Janus
by Jaenera Targaryen
Summary: Janus: the Roman god of beginnings and endings, of duality and the twin faces. A fitting analogy perhaps, for a girl who by a whim of chance was born with dual sides to her being.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Prologue

Stopped.

Everything stopped.

The worms were frozen mid-wriggle on the dark floor below her, the old man beside her frozen mid-motion to push her down off the ledge and down into the pit below her, and even the air itself was frozen, all sound stilled with nothing to carry it.

Time itself had been frozen.

And yet the girl could move. She blinked, looking down at the worms below, waiting to feast on her flesh, then to the old man who her father had said would be taking care of her from now on, and then to the figure she'd always known to be watching over her shoulder…behind her…with her…

She'd never been able to see them, even with a mirror, but she'd always known they were there. She didn't know why and how, she just did, just like how she'd always just seemed to know about…things, things that she shouldn't, couldn't _possibly_ know about.

And now that time had stopped…she would see. Turning around, she faced the one standing before her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Good question," the silhouette answered in a…voice, that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. "And one with so many different answers. You can call me God, if you want. But you can also call me the world. Or even the universe. The truth…the beginning…the end…all correct…and all just as wrong…"

The girl stayed silent, the silhouette wrapping itself around her like a snake, speaking all the while in a singsong tone. "But the answer most relevant to you," it said, as it unraveled itself from her, and melted out of the shadows to appear as more than just a silhouette. "I am you."

Two girls stared at each other, and then the first one nodded, and spoke with a voice that came from nowhere and everywhere. "You are me." She admitted, and the second girl grinned inhumanly wide.

"We are one." They spoke together, and with those three words time resumed its flow. The girl closed her eyes, and then turned to face the annoyed old man hobbling towards her. He opened his mouth to speak, and then froze, opaque black eyes widening in surprise.

"…your eyes…mystic eyes…Tohsaka never said…"

The girl just ignored him, just as she ignored the rich and hot tang of liquid metal suddenly filling her mouth. All she could focus on were the lines and points superimposed over everything around her, and moving reflexively, she stepped closer, and stabbed her finger at a point in the old man's torso.

The old man gasped…

…and with a hissing sound, crumbled into powder. Down below in the pit, worms likewise crumbled into powder, sharing their maker's fate, for they were one and the same being, separate yet one.

The girl dropped her arm, coughing and gagging on her own blood, and then staggering back a few steps keeled over to the side, unconscious.

* * *

Months passed, and a scruffy-looking man was anxiously entering the Matou property. Making his way to the front door, he rang the doorbell, and stepping back, bounced on his heels several times to try and ease his anxiety. Impatiently, he rang the doorbell again, and then a third time, and then the front door was being opened, by a rather unhappy-looking man.

"Yes, yes, I'm…Kariya…what are you doing here?" Byakuya Matou asked.

"Where's Sakura, Byakuya?" Kariya Matou replied without preamble, and pushing past his brother into the house.

"Upstairs…in her room." Byakuya said, closing the door behind them. "Spends most of her time there anyway…how'd you know about her being here?"

"Aoi told me." Kariya said, and Byakuya snorted.

"Figures," he said. "And then you came running here to save her girl and impress her, is that it?"

Kariya snarled. "You bastards," he began. "You didn't…"

"Hey, what did you expect me to do?" Byakuya said defensively. "Stand up to the old worm? You know what he did to my wife, hell, at least you only _know_. I had to watch it all happen, and had to keep watching, until he finally decided to grant 'mercy'…by making me kill her myself."

With a roar, Kariya grabbed his brother and slammed him against the door. Byakuya took the abuse without complaint, but after a moment Kariya had released him and was running off. "Sakura!" he shouted. "Where are you? Uncle's here!"

"Oh stop shouting." Byakuya snapped. "She's fine. The old worm tried to feed her to the worms, and he paid for it."

Kariya froze mid-step, and turned to Byakuya incredulously. "What did you say?" he answered.

"Interested, aren't we?" Byakuya answered with a smirk, before his face turned grim. "That Tohsaka girl…she's a nasty one. I don't know how she did it, but she killed the old worm. And without much of a fuss too, from the look of things."

"W-what?" Kariya stammered in shock. "But…how?"

"No idea." Byakuya said with a shrug. "Just checked in on the following day, and there she was, unconscious on the ledge with dried blood on her chin and under her nose. And sand, or something like it, lots and lots of it, all over the place and especially inside the pit. My guess…that's all that's left of the old worm and his pets."

Kariya gaped at Byakuya for several moments, while Byakuya looked silently thoughtful. And then narrowing his eyes, Kariya approached his brother. He stayed quiet for a few moments, and then he lowered his head slightly. "You're sober, aren't you?" he asked.

"As dry as a merchant's soul, as the old saying goes." Byakuya replied. "Was hell the first couple of months…but it's worth it."

"…hard to believe it took only the old worm dying to get you to shape up."

"Oh no." Byakuya said with a smirk and a shake of his head. "I'm not…shaped up, as you call it. Just…careful."

"Careful?"

Byakuya nodded. "Can't be careful if you're up to your eyebrows in fumes." He said before his face darkened. "The old worm…as long as you stayed out of his way, everything was fine. Do as you're told, and make sure to meet his expectations. As long as you did that, then you can do as you like. That Tohsaka girl…she's creepy. She almost never talks. All she does is stare at you with those cold eyes of hers, as though she's staring into your soul. Put me off the bottle, I'll tell you that much."

"…she's always been a quiet girl."

"She's more than just a quiet girl." Byakuya disagreed. "How to say this…yes, she has the air of an apparition around her, or something like that."

"That's crazy talk." Kariya said. "You're…"

"She killed the old worm, Kariya." Byakuya interrupted. "And having lived for far longer with that monster than you have, once the alcohol was gone…no, even before that, I can feel it in my bones. She's not…someone, you want to mess with. By all means, go ahead and talk to her. Me? I just make sure she's comfortable and has no reason to turn on me, but that's it."

Kariya was silent for several moments. "I'm surprised you didn't just give her back if you're so scared of her." He said, and Byakuya snorted.

"And what if she doesn't want to go back?" he asked. "I'm not forcing her, and I'm not risking bringing up the topic."

"…right." Kariya said in disbelief. "So…where is she?"

"Upstairs," Byakuya said dismissively. "I'm sure you can figure out which room she's in, almost all the rooms upstairs are empty and closed up. If you want to talk to her, go ahead. Just don't blame me if things go badly."

And at that, Byakuya stalked away, leaving Kariya with more questions than answers.

* * *

Sakura's room was easy enough to find. As Byakuya had said, with the house all but abandoned, given how few people lived in it, most rooms were closed up, not just the doors but also the windows. There would be no light coming from beneath the door, through the narrow gap between it and the floor.

Knocking once, Kariya slowly pushed the door open, and found himself staring into a pair of blue eyes looking curiously at him. He breathed a sigh of relief. The eyes were still the right color, and the same went for the hair. There was no despair or pain in those eyes, just the…aloof, curiosity they'd always had when he'd played with their owner in the past.

Kariya blinked at that, Byakuya's words from earlier coming back to haunt him.

 _All she does is stare at you with those cold eyes of hers, as though she's staring into your soul. Put me off the bottle, I'll tell you that much._

In the past, Kariya had just put it down to Tokiomi's influence, that Sakura's cold and aloof character was just her copying her father, and yet…

…could there be more to it? There shouldn't be, for all that she was supposed to be as smart and talented as her older sister, she was still just a five-year old girl. But…

 _I don't know how she did it, but she killed the old worm. And without much of a fuss too, from the look of things._

"Uncle," Sakura said, breaking Kariya out of his thoughts. "You're here."

"Y-yes," Kariya said with a cough. "I just arrived."

"Okay."

That was the expected response, and Kariya smiled at the familiarity. Sakura turned back to what she was doing, a coloring book open on the floor before her and a set of crayons sitting beside it. Taking a red crayon, Sakura began coloring in an apple while Kariya watched.

After several moments though, he approached and sank down beside her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Coloring."

"Yes, I can see that." Kariya said with a smile. He watched in silence for a few more moments, and then spoke up again. "Hey…do you want to go home?"

Sakura looked at him in surprise. "I am home." She said.

Kariya grimaced. "I meant," he began. "Back to where your mother and sister are, and…your, father."

"Uncle Tohsaka said this was home now." Sakura said in a matter of fact way. "He won't let me come back."

"…how do you know?"

"I just do."

Again, Byakuya's words hung over Kariya's thoughts, and the familiarity of Sakura's usual seeming perceptiveness suddenly became touched with unease. "But…I'm sure your mother and sister would like to have you back." Kariya said.

Sakura paused, and sat back on her heels, showing a rare moment of emotion on her face. "They would." She admitted eventually, before lowering her face and shaking her head. "But they'll still do as Uncle Tohsaka tells them to. I can go to Tohsaka…and then I'll be back soon. Or not…could go somewhere else. Where Uncle Tohsaka wants me to go to next."

Sakura paused and shrugged, before picking up the crayon and beginning to color again. "I like it here." She finally said, and causing Kariya's grimace to deepen.

"Sakura," he began. "There are bad things here. You shouldn't stay, they might come back."

"No, they're gone." Sakura said.

"How do you know?"

"I made them go away."

Kariya was at a loss for words. "…how?" he asked.

"I poked the bad man." Sakura said, turning to look at Kariya. "He wanted to do bad things to me, so I poked him…here."

Kariya looked down as Sakura patted his chest. "I poked him there," she said. "And he went away, with the other bad things."

"…how?"

Sakura shrugged. "There were lines and dots." She said. "And I know if you touch them right, they make things go away."

"…how do you know that?"

"I just do."

"Did…Uncle Tohsaka, teach you that?"

"No," Sakura said with a shake of her head, before smiling a small smile. "I just know it. And it worked, didn't it?"

"…I guess it did."

Smiling wider, Sakura turned back to her coloring book, and once more leaving Kariya with even more questions than answers.

* * *

A/N

To be honest, I don't know where this idea came from. I haven't watched _Kara no Kyoukai_ in a long time, and to be honest (again), I don't know if this idea even works. Then again, considering Aoi's special ability is to give her children special abilities, she just might have rolled a natural twenty when it came to this Sakura's special abilities.

Lots of symbolism in this chapter, from the title (Janus, the two-faced Roman god of beginnings and endings, past and future, time and duality) to Sakura's…shadow, or whatever you want to call that thing. Alternate personality? Embodiment of her powers? The Root itself? Works as well as any, I guess.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 1

"Kariya, we need to talk."

It had been several days since Kariya had come home, and things had largely settled into a routine. It largely involved relieving Byakuya of many domestic chores such as cooking and keeping the house clean, and looking after Sakura, with the older of the Matou brothers busying himself with other matters which usually involved lots of paper and even a series of harried and more often than not heated phone calls. Kariya kept his curiosity in check, and left such things at arm's length.

Now however, it seemed that his brother wanted to involve him, for one reason or another.

"About what?" Kariya asked.

"A few things," Byakuya said. "First and most pressing, and also the easiest to deal with: The Fourth Holy Grail War."

"…it's next year, isn't it?"

"Do the math, and find out for yourself."

Kariya did just that, and began to swear. "Relax," Byakuya said. "I have no plans to join that stupid contest, or to force you to. That said, we can't stick around here when it does happen. As one of the founding families, we're kind of expected to join, so even if we don't, other magi would assume we have. If they attack us here, and we have no Servant…"

"…we're toast." Kariya said with a sigh.

"Pretty much," Byakuya said with a rare grin. "In any case, my idea is when it starts, we leave town for a while. It shouldn't last more than a month in any case, maybe two at most, though we should make sure to come back only when the dust's settled down. Can't be too careful, after all."

"Well, no arguments there."

"And in any case, it's not like Sakura would be missing school or anything like that." Byakuya said with a nod. "Any ideas on how to go with it?"

"Not yet…you?"

"I've got some business to deal with." Byakuya said. "Among other things…you…I was thinking you set up a bank account, put some money into it, and take the kid to go sightseeing. I know it's winter time, but I'm sure there are still good places to see and be at even in winter."

"…it's not a bad idea, but while I'm not exactly broke I'm not exactly rolling around in cash either."

Byakuya looked unimpressed. "You do realize the old worm is dead, right?" he asked.

"Thankfully…oh yeah, I see your point."

Byakuya sighed and rolled his eyes. "So we're agreed on that point?" he asked.

"We are." Kariya said. "No point in joining that stupid and pointless contest the magi call the Holy Grail War, but even if we sit it out, just staying in this town during the contest will put a giant bull's eye on our backs."

"My thoughts exactly." Byakuya said with a nod. "Next point, and a bit more difficult: the old worm is dead."

"How is that a problem?"

"The legalities, Kariya, legalities." Byakuya said. "When the kid killed him, she didn't leave a body. And we need one to prove he's dead, and to move on from that point."

"…I assume that's part of the 'business' you mentioned earlier? The stuff you need to deal with?"

"It is." Byakuya said. "I've been getting in touch with all sorts of puppet makers to try and get them to make a fake body for us, and while I'm getting warmer, not many want to get involved. The old worm was pretty well-known in his own way, or should I say quite a lot of people who matter in that kind of way were wary of him. Even after he's dead, they don't want to get involved with chopping up what's left."

"…careful, Byakuya. If you get in too deep, you might not be able to get out."

"Oh, are you concerned? I'm touched."

Kariya rolled his eyes at his brother's sarcasm. "It seems like you have this in hand," he said. "And there's the old saying of too many cooks spoiling the broth. What do you need me for?"

"For starters," Byakuya said. "You should be aware of what I'm dealing with, since in a way it does concern you, oh dark and infamous black sheep of the family."

"…considering what the old worm made of it, I'm quite proud of that title."

"Yes, I know." Byakuya said, and Kariya raised an eyebrow at the respectful tone. "And once we get the requirements done, I plan to split up the family assets between the two of us."

"You assume I would even be interested in it."

"You need money to raise a kid."

"I don't have…Sakura?"

Byakuya nodded. "I'm not the best father in the world, not really." He said with a sigh. "That girl…I wouldn't be able to raise her properly, not even close. Given I practically neglected and even threw away my own son…not to mention how dangerous she is by comparison…"

Kariya began to protest, only to be shut up by his brother's glare. "Kariya," Byakuya said. "She killed Zouken. A five-year-old girl with no training whatsoever, killed a vampire who's been around for gods know how long. Get it through your head: she's dangerous, if not to people she cares for, then to those she _doesn't_ care for. You can't entrust her to me."

"…so you're throwing her to me?"

"What? You get to raise Aoi's kid as your own, just like you've always wanted. Do the details really matter?"

"…damn you…"

Byakuya smirked, knowing his brother wouldn't really protest. "Third issue," Byakuya continued. "And the most difficult to deal with: Sakura needs training."

"No, she doesn't."

"Yes, she does." Byakuya said with a glare. "I told you just now, she's dangerous. She needs to be taught how dangerous her powers are, not just to others, but also to herself."

"…to herself?" Kariya echoed, and Byakuya nodded.

"In a way, that fool Tokiomi was right." He said. "Not about trusting the old worm, or that being a magus is such a good and noble thing, as in both cases he's a complete and utter moron. Sakura's potential being wasted since she's just a spare is arguable, and in my opinion should be something that girl should decide on her own. But, that her massive…no, _monstrous_ potential, would draw unwanted attention…he's completely right. Even if she doesn't become a magus, she should be a spell-caster at least, with enough know-how to deal with anything bad that goes her way."

"…any ideas?"

"I can teach her the basics." Byakuya said with a shrug. "But that's all I can teach her. After that…either she works things out on her own, or we find a tutor for her. And considering how asinine magi are about their and other's secrets, the former might actually be easier and _safer_ for all concerned."

"…I'll think about it."

"You should…or we could just ask her what she wants."

"And if she says no?"

"…then we have a problem." Byakuya said with a sigh. "But I don't think she'd say no, as long as it doesn't involve worms."

Kariya have his brother a dark look, but sighed after a moment and narrowed his eyes.

"We'll see."

* * *

In the end, Byakuya was right. After being told that no, learning magic would not mean getting fed to worms like Zouken had tried to do to her, Sakura had agreed to learn magic. She'd also agreed to become Kariya's adopted daughter, instead of Byakuya's.

"Here," Byakuya said, handing Sakura a small vial filled with some kind of clear fluid. "First step on learning magic: open your magic circuits."

Sakura nodded, and opening the vial drank it all down. For a moment there was no effect, and then pain…searing, burning pain as all her magic circuits opened across her body, and in the process felt like red-hot metal being stabbed into her. The five-year-old girl couldn't help it, crying out in pain, she crumpled to the ground, curling up for a few moments before struggling up on all fours, and opening her eyes.

Lines and points were everywhere, and Byakuya recoiled. "Your eyes…" he said in surprise. "Mystic eyes…this wasn't part of what Tokiomi…"

And then it was over, the pain subsiding as her magic circuits dimmed and went out. Sakura collapsed, gasping and sweating heavily. Even then, her mystic eyes remained active, letting her see lines and points everywhere. She blinked once, twice, three times, and finally turned them off.

Byakuya helped her up, and pushed a glass of cold water into her hands. "Sorry about that." He said, as Sakura drank and he wiped at her face with a kerchief. "I should have warned you, opening your magic circuits for the first time will be painful, like getting burned alive. And the more you have, the more painful it will be. I don't have that many, unlike you, and I'm used to it too, so it slipped my mind."

Sakura nodded, drinking deeply. "Will it go away?" she asked, both her uncle and her other self. Her other self was quiet and unresponsive, but her uncle less so.

"Not really," Byakuya said. "But as you get used to it, the pain will fade, and just turn to numbness. Mind you, it's only a slight improvement. Using magic for too long means all that numbness will make it as though your body's so heavy and is about to fall apart, and again, you have more than I do. Far more…"

Sakura nodded. "I understand." She said.

Byakuya nodded. "Good," he said. "Now, that potion I gave you forcefully opens your magic circuits and then closes them after a while, but you need to learn how to open and close your circuits on your own. To do that, you need a trigger."

"What's that?"

"A mental image," Byakuya said. "One that works like a form of self-hypnosis and opens and closes your magic circuits on command."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion, and Byakuya sighed. "Do you remember the pain when you opened your magic circuits for the first time?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then," Byakuya continued. "You need to imagine something that reminds you of that pain, and enough to open your circuits. Then to close them, imagine something that does the opposite, to close your circuits. With me so far?"

"I…think so."

Byakuya nodded. "I noticed you shut off your mystic eyes earlier." He said. "It works like that, only for your circuits."

Sakura nodded, and lowering her face remembered the pain. It made her shiver a little, but it didn't really work. She remembered drinking the potion, and imagined doing it again. But it didn't work, and the girl scowled in frustration.

And then another memory came to mind, of stabbing the old man with her fingers and the crushing pain in her head as she made him go away, and of all the blood filling up her mouth and throat before passing out. Narrowing her eyes, Sakura imagined doing so again…

…and with a cry, staggered and crumpled to her knees, blue lines glowing all across her body as her magic circuits reopened. "Very good," Byakuya said with a slow nod. "Now, turn them off."

Sakura nodded shakily, and imagining the spider's web again, imagined it falling apart into dust after she stabbed its point. As it did, the pain went away, her magic circuits fading away as they turned off.

"Very good again." Byakuya said. "I think we should leave it at that, for now. I want you to practice opening and closing your circuits five times a day, though when during the day is up to you. If you're going to learn magic, you need to start getting used to it."

Sakura shakily nodded, and Byakuya scratched his head. "On another note…" he said. "How well can you read?"

"Only kana." Sakura said, while getting to her feet. "I can't read kanji yet."

"Hmm…that's going to be a problem. Alright…I'll prepare some written reviewers for you, for our next lesson next week. I'll give them to you later, and don't just read them, but _understand_ them by the time our next lesson comes. Alright?"

"Yes…uncle."

Byakuya nodded. "You can go." He said. "I'll give you your reviewers later."

Sakura nodded, and shakily left the library and her uncle behind. Well, he was still her dad right now, but that would change soon enough.

" _Dad…?_ " Sakura thought to herself. " _I'll have three dads this year…Uncle Tokiomi…Uncle Byakuya…and soon Uncle Kariya…it's like no one really wants to be my dad like this…though Uncle Kariya's always been nicer to me than Uncle Tokiomi or Uncle Byakuya ever were…_ "

Sakura sighed, pausing in the middle of the corridor and looking up at the wooden ceiling above. " _Hey,_ " she said into the darkness of her mind. " _Are you awake?_ "

There was no response. " _Hello? Hello?_ " she called repeatedly. " _Are you in there? Please answer me!_ "

Again, there was no answer, though closing her eyes Sakura could still _feel_ her other self with her. It just wasn't responsive today. Then again, they had only ever talked on that night, when she had almost been fed to the worms.

Sakura shuddered, and hugged herself. She shuddered some more as she remembered seeing the worms wriggling, and the old man – 'grandfather' – telling her to walk down and lie down with them. And when she wouldn't, he had been about to just push her off the ledge to the worms below…

…if not for her other self…

" _Uncle Tokiomi said it'd be for my own good._ " Sakura thought with mixed sadness and something else, something she couldn't describe yet, not for a long time, and which she hadn't felt before then but had felt many times over the past months, when thinking about just what her real but former father had sent her to. " _Did he really mean that? Or…did he…did he really…_ "

Wiping furiously at her eyes, Sakura stomped down the corridor to her room, and slipping inside closed and locked the door behind her before slumping down to the ground, leaning against the door. Looking up, she opened her eyes, staring at the mesmerizing lines and points over all she could see.

" _If I stab the dots,_ " Sakura thought. " _They go away. But, what happens if I trace the lines?_ "

Blinking at the thought, Sakura scurried over to the trash can, and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Staring at it, Sakura ran a finger over a line…

…and wide-eyed, stared as the paper literally fell apart, not just along the line she touched…

…no, not touched, _cut_ , but also along the other lines across the paper.

"Wow…" Sakura said, before rummaging for another crumpled piece of paper. Pulling it out, she stabbed at a dot…

…and watched the paper crumble away. And this time, unlike with grandfather, there was no pain. Well…not in her head, and her mouth and throat didn't fill with blood this time. But her finger was bleeding, and putting it in her mouth, Sakura sucked at the wound, the iron taste in her mouth a surprisingly familiar one.

" _If I cut a line,_ " she thought. " _It breaks. But if I stab a dot, then it goes away. Amazing…_ "

Despite nursing a bleeding finger, unable to speak with her other self, and several bad feelings left from thinking about Uncle Tokiomi…

…Sakura smiled.

* * *

The months passed by quickly, with the formalities of Sakura's adoption by Kariya going through the quickest. That was no surprise, as among the issues faced by the Matou brothers it was the simplest.

What was surprising was a veiled letter of concern sent by Tokiomi Tohsaka to Zouken Matou, expressing surprise at Kariya's return to his family, and concern at Kariya being made responsible for Sakura's wellbeing. It also requested a meeting, with Tokiomi extending in advance his gratitude for such a meeting, which he hoped would quell concerns on both family's parts.

"How the fuck did that arrogant, conceited, stuck-up, son of a bitch find out?" Kariya raged, and crumpling the letter.

"If I had to guess," Byakuya said with a sigh. "He probably has an inside source somewhere in the government or something like that. Times like these I wish I hadn't stopped drinking…"

Byakuya muttered some more to himself, before finally subsiding. "…look at this!" Kariya continued to rage, and waving the crumpled piece of paper in the air. "Sending a letter even though his house is just a few minutes' walk away? Ridiculous! Just how…"

"He's a magus, Kariya." Byakuya said with a roll of his eyes. "A rich and powerful one, whose family was of minor but lordly rank before the Meiji Restoration. What did you expect?"

Kariya made a sound indicative of disgust. "And they say we Matou have a reputation for being arrogant." He muttered. "Whoever says that has never met that snobby, self-important, son of a bitch…"

"Oh enough!" Byakuya cut in irritably. "If you have time to vent on your insecurities over the man who stole Aoi out from under your nose, then why don't you use that time and effort to figure out a way to fix this? If we don't do things right, Tohsaka's probably just going to take her back."

"Over my dead body!" Kariya roared.

"…that will probably be the case." Byakuya said dryly. "Even here, neither of us can hope to stand against Tohsaka if he decides to see us as an enemy. And besides, I'd think you'd be happy that Sakura will be heading back to Tohsaka, with her mother and sister again."

"With her mother and sister, yes." Kariya ground out. "Tokiomi? Ha! That man would pimp her out again in less than a year, mark my words."

"A bit extreme, but…accurate enough, I guess." Byakuya said. "Though he has good reasons…"

Byakuya trailed off as Kariya crushed the letter from Tokiomi in his hands. "If the only reason is because Sakura needs to be trained," Kariya snarled. "Then why not train her himself?"

"That's not how magi do things, Kariya." Byakuya said. "You know that."

"Yes, I do. And it's an abominable way of life, seeing how magi only see their families in light of how it'll benefit them and their oh so noble legacy!" Kariya spat. "Families are meant to be loved and cherished because they're family, not as a means to an end!"

"That coming from a black sheep?"

"You know our family is different!"

"I guess I do." Byakuya said with a sigh. "Again though…enough of this venting of yours, we need to find a way to respond, and soon."

"Well we can't just blow him off, as much I'd love to." Kariya spat, and beginning to pace. "He'll only get suspicious and might even start to press the issue."

"Then, we'll have to meet him, don't we?"

"You will." Kariya said. "No offense Byakuya, but you are kind of well-known as the old worm's creature."

Byakuya winced. "Harsh," he said. "But true. He'll certainly be more inclined to trust me than he would you."

"…that's what I just said."

Byakuya crossed his arms and began to think. "I need a drink, but I shouldn't." he said after several moments, and scratching at his head. "Anyway…if you don't want to lose your baby girl…"

"Really, Byakuya?"

Byakuya ignored the interruption and continued. "…we're going to have to bluff Tohsaka." He said. "Say…tell him that it was Zouken who called you back, offered you a second chance at redemption by taking care of the new heiress, and you accepted. Drop some hints of taking advantage of your obsession with Aoi…"

"Hey, watch it!"

"…and we might just be able to pull it off." Byakuya finished, and again ignoring Kariya's interruption. "Maybe play up my…flaws as well, given my son's a blunt and I used to be a drunk, and reference the old worm being, well, _old_ , and we could add more credibility to faking Zouken choosing you to be Sakura's stepdad."

"Speaking of you being a drunk before," Kariya said. "How would you explain being sober?"

"Zouken told me to not mess things up and to present myself properly." Byakuya said with a shrug. "And it's not the first time I've been his intermediary with Tohsaka. I was also sober at the time, and I can always play those up as having given Tohsaka no reason to distrust me."

"Well that's true…and Zouken not meeting Tokiomi in person?"

"He was busy with family matters elsewhere." Byakuya said with a shrug. "An excuse he's given in the past often enough to not be suspicious when used here and now, again."

"…you sure Tokiomi can't just read your mind?"

"Hey," Byakuya said with mock offense. "I might be mediocre, but I'm still a magus. Tohsaka can't read my mind, and he won't. He's too…polite, for it. Especially if I ask to meet him in his house as a gesture of trust."

Kariya blinked and then burst out laughing. "Oh, that's clever." He said with a grin. "Using Tokiomi's own pride and precious sense of doing things properly against him…very clever."

"My son had to get it from someone." Byakuya said with a smile and a shrug. "He never will become a magus, but he's otherwise a very clever and talented boy. Shame about everything that came before…"

Byakuya trailed off with a sigh, and Kariya nodded sympathetically. "Who knows?" he said after a few moments. "Now that the old worm is gone, maybe…you could start over."

"Maybe…" Byakuya said before sighing again. "Anyway, I ought to start preparing a letter to send back to Tohsaka. If we're going to use his pride against him, I ought to start early. And it's how we've responded to him in the past too."

"You should also start preparing to bullshit him too." Kariya said.

"Don't worry about that." Byakuya said with a smirk. "I've been practicing bullshitting everything and everyone around me for a long time now. Even not being drunk changes things little."

"Right…I'll leave it to you then."

"Yes, just leave it to me."

* * *

"So," Kariya asked as he greeted Byakuya several days later, after he returned from meeting with Tokiomi. "How'd it go?"

"Tokiomi will be taking Sakura back tonight."

"WHAT?"

"And she's also going to marry some dude thirty years her senior once she's thirteen."

Kariya roared and began to rant unintelligibly, and kicking at a nearby wall. Upstairs, Sakura ran onto the second floor landing and stared down with mixed curiosity and concern. Byakuya glanced up, and then smirked at his brother. "Got you, didn't I?" he asked.

Kariya froze and turned to his brother. "That was a joke?" he asked in a whisper.

"It was a joke."

Kariya punched him, and sending the older man staggering. "THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!" he roared.

"No…it wasn't…sorry." Byakuya groaned, before pushing his nose back into place with audible pop. Wiping blood off his face and hand with a kerchief, he continued. "Ahem…Tohsaka took it, hook, line, and sinker."

"You should have said so from the very beginning."

"I guess I should have."

"Yes, you should have!"

"Oh calm down." Byakuya said with a roll of his eyes. "It was just a bad little joke on my part. You got what you want, so let it go."

Byakuya paused, and laughed a bit. "You were right though." He said. "The son of a bitch was an arrogant bastard, but because of that, because he's always so sure of his being always right and never wrong he never once thought he was being fed dirt. What was that you said last week? And they say we Matou have a reputation for being arrogant? They ought to meet and greet with Tokiomi Tohsaka. Damn!"

Kariya rolled his eyes. "I have known that for a very long time now." He said, before noticing Sakura listening upstairs. "Oh…Sakura…"

"What?" she asked with a shrug. "It's true, isn't it?"

Kariya blinked, and shared a glace with his brother. "It is?" they asked.

"It is."

"…um…right."

"Yeah, let's…just go with that."

* * *

A/N

Getting rid of Zouken cuts out a lot of literal dead wood from the Matou. They might be a dysfunctional bunch, but they're surprisingly fun and interesting to write once you get rid of Zouken.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 2

The Moon shone cold in the night, casting the suburbs of Fuyuki in pale light and long shadows. A dark-clothed figure with a skull-like mask gazed down on a single property from atop an electric post, and the faint shimmering of magic that was the bounded field protecting it. For a full hour the Assassin stood still, silent, focused purely on his goal, and then with a smooth and swift gesture, threw a dagger at the property.

It slipped through the shimmering field of magic without being hindered, and stabbed into the ground nearly to the hilt. Sparks flew as a seal shattered, and in a blur of shadow, the Assassin leapt through a gap in the field, slipping through moments before the other seals could repair the damage and close the gap.

The Assassin landed lithely on the ground, suspicion filling his mind. The field he'd just slipped through had been the only one protecting the property, which simply did not make sense. This was a magi property. And magi were simply asinine about protecting themselves and their secrets. So much so that the property of the Assassin's ally had multiple bounded fields to protect it.

This property though…

…it was all but unprotected, especially as it seemed that the mansion before him had no defenses whatsoever.

After a few moments of thought, the Assassin shifted into astral form, and taking advantage of his ethereal nature, simply passed through the walls as though they weren't there. Continuing in such a fashion, the Assassin spent the next hour poring through the house, from the ground floor and its amenities to the residential quarters and their ancillaries in the floor above, and the eerie, dungeon-like structure beneath.

Nothing…or rather, there was no one in the mansion. And from the look of things, no one had been for at least a month.

" _Master,_ " the Assassin reported back. " _There is no one here. Judging from the state of the interior, I would say it's been a month at least, since anyone was inside. And from the pristine appearance, I would also say they left in no hurry and in good order._ "

" _Could they be hiding?_ " Kirei Kotomine asked.

" _It is possible._ " The Assassin conceded. " _But highly unlikely…I will make a thorough search, to be certain, but I have little expectations to find anyone within._ "

" _Very well, proceed._ "

" _Yes, Master._ "

The connection cut, and the Assassin proceeded to search once more, and much more thoroughly this time. But despite his best efforts, and hours of careful work, there was simply no denying it anymore. No one was in the Matou mansion.

" _Master,_ " the Assassin reported back. " _I have completed my search, and it is as I told you. There is no one here._ "

" _Is there any other observations that may be of relevance that you wish to report?_ " Kirei asked.

" _There is._ " The Assassin answered. " _While infiltrating this property, I discovered that there is only one bounded field protecting it._ "

" _That's impossible._ "

" _It should be as you say, Master._ " The Assassin agreed. " _This is a magi residence. And those tend to be heavily-protected. This one however, was lightly-protected, if even that._ "

" _Are you certain there are no signs of a struggle or anything violent in the property?_ " Kirei asked.

" _There is none, of that I am certain._ " The Assassin said. " _All the expensive furnishings are untouched, the residential quarters properly made, if not outright prepared for prolonged periods of disuse, the kitchens and other utilities similarly clean and pristine, and the library and its collection of magical knowledge unspoiled._ "

" _What of the workshop?_ " Kirei asked.

" _If you are referring to the underground space,_ " the Assassin answered. " _Then it is empty. There are no defenses in place either. If that is the magi's workshop, then I agree it is anomalous, as it would normally be expected to be the most heavily-protected place in this property, and containing their most valuable possessions. Only…there is nothing here._ "

" _Withdraw immediately, Assassin._ "

" _Yes, Master._ "

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense." Tokiomi worriedly said while pacing across his living room. "The Matou property undefended…no one inside…the interior prepared as though for a long time of disuse…and the workshop empty and undefended…this doesn't make sense at all."

"Is it possible they were attacked and everyone inside had been taken captive?" Kirei asked. "And the materials inside the workshop taken as well?"

"Possible…but unlikely." Tokiomi said. "If so, then why go through the effort of making the rest of the interior look pristine? Why leave a bounded field active at all? And why not take the information kept within the library as well?"

"The former two can be considered as an attempt to prevent discovery for some time." Kirei answered. "The last though…I have no answer."

Tokiomi continued to pace for several moments. "Alternatively," he audibly mused. "They could have evacuated for their own safety before the Holy Grail War, and took with them their most valuable assets with plans to return afterwards. It's the same reasoning I used with sending Aoi and Rin away to my in-laws…"

"…which would mean that the Matou Master is hiding elsewhere." Kirei concluded.

"Possibly," Tokiomi said with a nod. "But it leaves the question of why bother dismantling their defenses in the first place? And why not hide in their workshop? It's the heart of their mysteries, the place where they're at their strongest. None of this makes sense at all."

Tokiomi's worries and Kirei's attempts at understanding were abruptly interrupted by loud and mocking laughter. "Look at you mongrels pondering your heads off at such trivial matters." Archer said with a grin. "It is cheap comedy, but entertaining still for all that."

"I apologize if we seemed rude, Your Majesty." Tokiomi said with a bow. "However, if I may point out, the Matou are an enemy in this war. In order to obtain the Holy Grail and bring it into your hands, it is necessary to defeat them, and in order to defeat them, knowledge of their plans and preparations for the war need to be had."

Archer snorted. "Your silver tongue remains untarnished, I see." He observed. "But if so, you are wasting your time."

"Your Majesty?"

"The Matou will not be participating in this war." Archer said dismissively. "And considering how they would have otherwise…"

Kirei and Tokiomi looked at each other in confusion as Archer trailed off in disgust. "May I ask how you came by such a conclusion?" Tokiomi asked, and Archer glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"You dare question my judgment?" he growled. "And to seek knowledge you already possess? My time is too precious to waste answering stupid questions, Tokiomi. Remember that, and your place."

Tokiomi and Kirei bowed low. "Forgiveness," they said softly, and Archer made a dismissive gesture with his arm.

"Leave me." He commanded.

Tokiomi and Kirei bowed once more, and left, the former's face as they turned away betraying the slightest trace of displeasure at being dismissed in his own home by what was essentially a glorified familiar. Archer knew this of course, and it took considerable effort on his part not to discipline Tokiomi for his disrespect then and there.

But, his…Master's, worries _had_ brought an interesting thought to his attention. For with the power of his Noble Phantasm, Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient and Omnipotent Star, the King of Heroes possessed the power to see all that was, all that is, and all that will be, and how they all tie together, and how they may be made to fit his purpose.

And through it, he could see what the Matou would have brought to bear into this farce the magi deigned call a war. A pathetic, and half-dead failure eaten-through with worms…a mad dog who would dare lay hands on the king's treasures and raise them in rebellion against the one true king…and behind it all a stinking, rotting corpse kept alive by foul and base mysteries.

All averted by random chance it seemed, when a pathetic, droll, and otherwise uninteresting man and his equally plain and unremarkable wife produced a jewel-eyed girl possessed of the power of death over all that existed. That she had cleansed the king's garden of a walking disease alone was worthy of rich reward, that she had done so as a mere child only served to increase her value in the king's eyes…

…yes, perhaps this world wasn't completely beyond hope after all, if it could still present hidden treasures such as her.

" _And to think Tokiomi had discarded her as useless to him, the pathetic fool._ " Archer thought while audibly chuckling to himself. " _What a joke… though not unexpectedly fitting for the amateur jester that he is._ "

Still chuckling to himself, Archer cast his gaze on the snaking and ever-shifting paths of the future-present, and focused on the few things truly worthy of his exalted patronage. " _How many more?_ " he thought. " _How many more treasures are hidden in this twilit world, treasures whose only place is in my royal treasury, and await only the true king's coming to claim them?_ "

* * *

Even as Tokiomi and his apprentice worried about what had slipped through their web, on the other side of the globe, about half an hour's drive out from the city of Saint Petersburg, twin trails of blue smoke rose into the snowy sky from a _dacha_ 's chimney. Inside, Sakura sat on a fur rug, holding out her hands to a roaring fire in the fireplace. Nearby, Kariya sat on a comfortably-padded armchair, keeping a discreet eye on her in case she burned herself.

" _Russia, huh?_ " he thought to himself. " _Well, it's not such a bad idea. No way that stuck up son of a bitch Tokiomi will ever think to look for us here. And even if he does, Russia's a big place. He'll never find us._ "

Smirking at the thought, Kariya poured himself a glass of vodka and toasting his brother for the bright idea of spending winter in Russia, took a drink. "Dad, why are you smiling weird?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…well, by now your…uh, uncle, seems to have found out there's no one left in the mansion at Japan." Kariya said. "Looks like the Holy Grail War has started and he was poking around to see who Matou's Master and Servant are."

"But, we're not joining the war."

"No," Kariya said with a smile, at the thought of making sport of Tokiomi. "But he doesn't know that."

Sakura smiled as well. "I see what you mean." She said.

"Yes," Kariya said, while taking a sip of his vodka. "So much effort, so much time spent looking for us, and all for nothing. Ha! Not so smart are you, you arrogant, conceited, egotistic, oh so superior, son of a bitch!"

"Did he even notice us leaving when winter started?" Sakura asked.

"From the look of things, no." Kariya snorted. "Second Owner my ass. It's supposed to be his job to know everything about what supernatural elements in his territory do, but if he didn't notice what we've done, then so much for Tohsaka superiority."

"Would he even care?" Sakura asked while turning back to the fire.

"No, he wouldn't." Kariya said. "All that man ever cares for is himself and his precious legacy. You have no place in it, so he threw you away."

"And he never even bothered to check in on me." Sakura said coldly, as her eyes began to glow. "Not really…the only time he did was to make sure I was getting fed to the worms…"

Closing her eyes and bringing them under control, Sakura raised her hands up to the flames. "I hope he dies in the war." She said softly, and then blinking, turned back to Kariya. "And then you can marry mommy, and we can be one happy family again!"

Kariya choked on his vodka at that. "Wait, what?" he spluttered out.

"Uncle Tohsaka's going to fight in the war, right?" Sakura said while scampering over. "So if he dies, then he won't be married to mommy anymore. Then you can marry her and…"

"And you get your big sister and mommy back." Kariya concluded, and Sakura nodded happily. "An uh…interesting, and tempting outcome…it's not that simple though."

"It isn't?"

"No," Kariya said, drinking his shot of vodka all at once to compose himself. "But it's a start."

Sakura tilted her head, and then smiled widely and happily. "Then I really hope Uncle Tohsaka dies!" she said, and at the smile, Kariya couldn't help but agree.

"Here's to that!" he said, pouring himself more vodka and toasting Sakura's hopes for her blood father's untimely – but well-deserved – demise. Sakura only smiled wider in response.

* * *

Snow fell gently from the leaden sky, blanketing the city of Saint Petersburg in white, shot through with the gold of interior lights coming through windows, and from the street and vehicle lights. Draped in fur cloaks over winter clothing and with _ushankas_ on their heads, Sakura and Kariya made their way through a Saint Petersburg park. The grounds were covered in thick drifts of snow, and the fountains all drained and empty to keep the water from freezing and breaking their pipes and statuary, but the sculptures and the evergreen trees had been kept clear of snow by the groundskeepers, and it was between those that little children played at in the snow.

"Sveta!" Kariya shouted, speaking in Russian and using Sakura's _nom de plume_. "Don't get too rowdy! You never know what could be under the snow!"

"Yes, daddy!" she shouted back, also speaking in Russian, before another child tackled her to the snow. Kariya just shook his head at the children's rowdiness as they tackled and rolled all over the snow, the air filled with the sound of children's laughter, and then pushing away from each other chased each other around across the park while throwing handfuls of snow at each other.

"Children will be children." Another man said, walking over to Kariya with a smile and a laugh. "Let them play, it's good for them to enjoy their childhood while it lasts."

"True," Kariya admitted. "I remember my childhood…and how it ended all too quickly."

"That's the story of life, my friend." The other man said with a nod. "Yuriy Nikitovich Potrepalov."

"Ilya Vasilievich Voronov," Kariya introduced his own _nom de plume_. "Good to meet you."

"Likewise," Yuriy said, shaking Kariya's offered hand. "Your daughter takes after her mother, it seems."

"Yes, she does." Kariya said with a fond smile and a wistful tone. "She looks just like her when she was at that age."

"…I'm sorry, it seems I've gone too far."

"No," Kariya said with a shake of his head. "It's alright. It's just…complicated."

"Too many things are complicated in this day and age." Yuriy agreed, and joining in watching the children play. "One could envy the children, their lives are so simple, for a time anyway. And they should be…except sometimes…"

The man trailed off, and Kariya nodded. "Sometimes," he said. "Life forces them to grow up too quickly. What a terrible world we live in."

Yuriy nodded. "Indeed," he said before smiling at Kariya. "You're a poet."

"No," Kariya countered with a snort. "Just sentimental."

Yuriy chuckled, and then hearing his wife calling to him, nodded once at Kariya before walking off. Kariya stared after him for a moment, and then turned back to where Sakura was still playing with the other children.

* * *

" _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea._ " Kariya thought to himself, as he and Sakura proceeded through the well-lit corridors of the Kunstkamera, also known as the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. " _Seriously, what the fuck?_ "

Kariya eyed the shelves of formalin-filled jars containing stillborn fetuses with distaste, even more so the skeleton of a two-headed (likely conjoined twins) child standing on a rack in one corner. Sakura in contrast, looked at them in fascination, periodically using her mystic eyes to see them in a more…in-depth, way. "Amazing…" she murmured, not for the first time.

"Ugh," Kariya found himself groaning (again), as Sakura scampered over to the next set of exhibits, again of formalin-filled jars, this time filled with severed heads. Sighing to himself and keeping an eye on her, Kariya wandered over to a nearby bench on which sat a large man reading a newspaper. A jewel-topped cane was propped up next to him. "I really wish she'd hurry up and get over this so we can go to someplace more wholesome."

"Something bothering you, friend?" the man asked.

"My daughter," Kariya replied. "She's…fascinated, by all this…creepy exhibit."

The man laughed. "Sorry to hear that, friend." He said while turning the pages of his newspaper. "However, it must be said that while people are…repulsed, by the macabre and the strange, at the same time they are also…fascinated, by them. It is a contest between those two sentiments, with the outcome being determined by the consequences. When they are a threat to their normal, sordid, and ordinary lives, it is the former which comes out on top. But when they are not a threat, then the latter is what comes out."

"…that sounds…really, deep." Kariya said with some suspicion at this philosopher seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"It's true." The man said. "And you wouldn't be the first to express discontent at a place like this. But considering how many hundreds of thousands pass through these corridors in a year, I'd say the facts are with me."

"There are other exhibits, more wholesome ones." Kariya said. "I'll be sure to take Sveta there next, to the watercolors or the gems and mineralogy sections."

"By all means, do so." The man said, again turning the pages of his newspaper. "The science exhibits are just as extensive. Though I daresay this exhibit is also of scientific value."

"I fail to see why."

"Psychology is a science, is it not?" the man asked rhetorically. "In that light, this exhibit is an exploration of people's…fascination, and revulsion of the strange, the macabre, and the taboo."

"…that is fair."

The man turned his newspaper's pages again. "Just bear with it a little longer." He said. "There are thousands of specimens in this section of the museum. She'll get bored with it soon enough."

"Thousands?" Kariya squeeked.

"Yes." The man answered. "They've been constantly updating it for centuries, and this museum is a big place. They needed plenty to fill the shelves, and so they did."

Kariya groaned and let his face fall into his hands, and the man laughed. "Sorry," Kariya eventually said. "I didn't mean to distract you with my problems."

"It's no problem at all." The man. "Though come to think of it, what was your name again?"

"Ilya Vasilievich Voronov," Kariya said. "And you are?"

The man put down and folded his newspaper, exposing his old and lined face, irises red as blood alight with aged joviality. "My name," he began. "Ilya Vasilievich, is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. Pleased to meet you."

"…oh no."

* * *

"Tell me, Ilya Vasilievich," Zelretch began, as he walked with Kariya and Sakura through the exhibit. "Do you believe in luck?"

"I suppose I do." Kariya admitted. "It's not…reliable, but when it does swing in my favor, then I'm not above admitting I got lucky."

"Ah…you are a reasonable man, it seems." Zelretch said with approval. "Far too many of the people I meet and deal with tend to dismiss the value of luck as a factor in their lives."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." Kariya said. "Strangely enough, they're the kind to think too much on things, and at the same time not enough."

"All too true." Zelretch agreed. "Going back to luck, though, you are a very lucky man, Ilya Vasilievich, and you are a very lucky girl, Svetlana Ilyinichna. Had the dice rolled in a very different way…"

The jewel on Zelretch's cane flashed, and both Kariya and Sakura were struck by ephemeral visions of a pale, half-dead man burning to death as worms crawled out of his dying body while Tokiomi Tohsaka mercilessly bathed him in flames, and a dead-eyed girl lying naked and still as worms writhed around and tore into her body. The vision was only broken when Sakura nearly toppled an exhibit as she staggered backwards, her face twisted in terror and incomprehension, her irises glowing bright and blood streaming from her eyes and down her cheeks.

"I can't see…why can't I see…I…I…" she stammered out, as Kariya rushed to her side and quickly sinking down, pulled her tight.

"It's alright Sakura." He whispered. "It's alright. He can't hurt you anymore. You killed him…made him go away forever."

"My apologies," Zelretch said with genuine regret. "It seems I went too far."

"Yes, you did." Kariya snapped. "And what was that?"

"You were planning on sacrificing yourself for her sake, were you not?" Zelretch asked.

"Is that so wrong?" Kariya asked back.

"I suppose not." Zelretch answered. "Though your motives would have been in question."

"What?"

"Would you truly be saving her for her own sake," Zelretch began. "Or was it to impress her mother? And to get back at Tokiomi? Even now, you would rejoice at his death and being able to claim her – if you can – once more."

"…he doesn't deserve her." Kariya snarled.

"Arguable," Zelretch conceded. "But she chose him."

"Then she chose wrong." Kariya hissed, and Zelretch gave a small smile.

"Again," he said. "Arguable."

Kariya turned away, and pulling out a kerchief began dabbing at Sakura's cheeks. "Don't question what I feel for Sakura." He said. "I care for her. Maybe it's born of my…feelings, towards Aoi, but I care for Sakura. Fuck anyone who says otherwise."

Zelretch laughed. "Truly," he said. "This is a most refreshing experience. Normally, people are so enthralled by my reputation that they cannot speak but platitudes and flattery. It's rare for anyone to speak their minds before me."

Then the vampire sighed, and shook his head. "Anyway," he said. "I do not have much time to spare."

"That coming from someone with power over time?" Kariya asked with a raised eyebrow, still focused on his shivering daughter, struck by the limitations of her power.

"That is an illusion, born of the ability to cross between timelines at will, among other abilities." Zelretch said. "The one with true power over time would be Aoko Aozaki, not I."

"…okay…so now what?"

"As I was saying," Zelretch said, and stepping closer to them both. "Let us get back to the point, and at how lucky you are. But as you yourself admitted, Kariya, luck is not reliable at all. You cannot count on it. For that, I offer you this advice, that you seek out your brother."

"And why would I want to ask Byakuya for help, and on what?"

"He knows the theory, but lacks the ability." Zelretch answered. "You are the reverse, you have the ability, but lack the theory."

"Why would I even want to study magecraft?" Kariya asked. "It's…!"

"Regardless of what you feel about it," Zelretch coldly interrupted. "It's necessary, especially if you truly seek to claim your childhood love for yourself. You have average ability, but with what she possesses any children born will have what you possess magnified beyond what you can imagine. And like draws to like: do not forget that."

"…damn it."

"I trust we have an understanding?" Zelretch asked.

"We do."

"Good," Zelretch said, his grandfatherly demeanor returning. "Look on the bright side, Makiri is dead, so you don't have to worry about being sabotaged or even twisted anymore."

"…there is that."

"I knew you'd be happy about that." Zelretch said with a laugh, and Kariya snorted.

"Who would ever mourn for that monster?" he sneered.

"Hmm…let's not get into that." Zelretch said with a sigh, before turning to Sakura. "As for you, child, truly you are most fortunate…and unfortunate, as well. That which you have been gifted with led to your salvation in more ways than one, but if you are not careful, it could be your damnation as well. I trust today's lesson was well-learned?"

Sakura nodded in silence, and with a smile, Zelretch reached into a pocket, and pulled out a fist-sized diamond in a ring of electrum flanked by eagle's wings. "A gift," he said, as he placed it into her hands, and closed them over it. "To guide you on your path. Just remember: you are who you choose to be, and no one else."

"…thank you." Sakura whispered.

"…why?" Kariya asked.

Zelretch looked at him, and smiled wryly. "You are still both of my lineage, after all." He said. "I taught her ancestor a few tricks which they've since built on, and I knew Makiri when he was still a man and not a plague on the Earth. Maybe if I'd done something back then…"

Zelretch sighed and shook his head. "Well," he said. "No point in getting hung up on hindsight. I trust you'll be alright from here on out?"

Kariya and Sakura looked at each other, and then Kariya nodded at Zelretch. "We'll be fine." He said.

"Excellent!" Zelretch said with a nod and a smile. "I take my leave then."

And he was gone.

* * *

A/N

Uh-oh, Gil has an interest in Sakura. And that is _not_ a good thing: Archer Gil is bad news, unless Enkidu is around. As shown in Fate/Strange Fake, once Enkidu arrives, Archer Gil quickly calms down, even becoming downright _generous_ , considering he basically just gave away the Elixir of Life the moment he discovered Enkidu was also walking the Earth once more. I guess he really just wanted friends in the end.

But Enkidu isn't around, so Archer Gil is his usual, bad-tempered, It's All About **_ME_** , Psychopathic Manchild self.

Care to guess what lesson Zelretch taught Sakura above? It's admittedly a case of tough love, but it was a lesson she needed to learn early on.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 3

Cherry blossoms were blooming in the cool spring air as Kariya and Sakura finally returned to Fuyuki. Taking a taxi from the airport, they were surprised to find the mansion under renovation on arrival.

"What's going on here?" Kariya asked Byakuya as the latter met the former and his daughter in the foyer. Peering around his brother, he saw that a large portion of the floor had been removed, and workmen were busy pouring and smoothing concrete into the underground space.

"Nice to see you too, brother." Byakuya said dryly. "And it's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

"Can't say it's not an improvement." Kariya said while scratching his cheek. "What about where the door used to be?"

"It'll be bricked up once we finish filling up the underground space." Byakuya answered. "We'll need to reinforce the surrounding walls to handle the concrete's mass and volume, and check the rest of the house to see if it'll cause any other effects. You can't just pour dozens of cubic meters of concrete into a large space inside a pre-built structure without expecting side-effects, you know?"

"I'll take your word for it." Kariya said. "Can we still live here though?"

"While the men are at work?" Byakuya asked back. "Sure, so long as we stay out of their way while they're working. Speaking of which, Sakura?"

"Yes, uncle?"

"Go put your things in your room, then you can go and visit your mother and sister."

Sakura blinked. "But Uncle Tohsaka said to never come back." She said.

"Yeah, so he did." Byakuya said with a shrug. "What does it matter now, when he's dead."

"I'll be going right now!"

Byakuya chuckled as Sakura sped away, clearly having reinforced her limbs to move quickly. "So, Tokiomi bit the dirt, did he?" Kariya asked. "Do you still have whiskey? I need to celebrate that son of a bitch finally going to hell. I hope he and the old worm are having fun times catching up."

"I don't drink anymore, remember?" Byakuya wryly asked.

"One or two shots in the spirit of the occasion won't hurt." Kariya said with a grin, and placing an arm around his brother's shoulders, pulled him away in the direction of the kitchens. "Now, come on! Celebrate with your little brother, and stop being such a stick in the mud!"

"Yeah, yeah…now lose the arm, would you?" Byakuya grumbled. "We're making a scene."

Kariya laughed but did as his brother asked. Finally arriving in the kitchen, Byakuya rummaged around for a bit before producing a pair of glasses, and a bottle of gin. Before he could pour though, Kariya had opened the freezer, and producing an ice tray placed several ice cubes into each glass. "On the rocks it is then." Byakuya said with a sigh.

Kariya shrugged, and Byakuya poured for both. "Here's to that stuck up, son of a bitch finally getting what he deserved!" Kariya said, while grabbing his glass and raising it into the air.

"Likewise for the old worm!" Byakuya said with vengeful glee, and knocking his glass against his brother's, drank it all in one go. He shook his head and made a face as he set it down afterwards. "That was…nostalgic, but not in a good way."

"Another glass?"

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself." Kariya said while pouring himself a glass. Again, he raised it in a toast, silent this time, and raising it to his lips, drank, though not all at once.

"So," Byakuya began while getting a glass of water for himself. "How'd things go in Russia? Did you and Sakura enjoy yourselves while you were there?"

"More or less." Kariya answered. "The cold did get a bit much a lot of the time, but Sakura seemed to get along well with other children when they could get together. Visited plenty of tourist attractions in Saint Petersburg, museums usually."

"I heard there's a theme park there."

"Carnival," Kariya corrected. "It's a winter carnival, not a theme park. And yes, we visited a few times. Sakura found it very enjoyable, and to be honest so did I. Well, the rides were fairly generic, but the shows…the acrobats especially…impressive agility there."

Byakuya laughed. "Okay, I see what you mean." He said, though he looked curious as Kariya's face darkened. "What's wrong?"

Kariya lowered his head for a few moments, and then raising it met Byakuya's eyes. "We met Zelretch while we were visiting one of the museums there." He said.

"What?" Byakuya said. "The Wizard Marshall? What did he want?"

Kariya quickly told Byakuya the details of their encounter with Zelretch in the Kunstkamera, how he had shown them visions of a future averted only by sheer luck, spoken of his…concerns, for the future, and how he had acted out of…concern. "I'm not really sure I can take what he said at face value." Kariya concluded.

Byakuya looked worriedly thoughtful. "He probably wasn't completely lying." He said. "Or rather, he probably wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either."

"In other words," Kariya grimly said. "Everything he told us was genuine, but it's all part of a bigger plan at work. But what? And what's he after?"

Byakuya shrugged. "I don't know." He said. "And that's the worrying part. Even if we tried to look into it some more, we have no leads to follow."

Kariya looked sullen and unhappy, though the sound of running feet quickly drew his and Byakuya's attention. "Daddy," Sakura said while poking her head around the kitchen doorway. "Uncle, I'm going to Tohsaka right now!"

The two adults nodded, and then Sakura tilted her head. "Don't worry, daddy!" she said with a grin. "I'll be coming back! I won't leave you behind!"

Kariya smiled and nodded. "Alright," he said. "Stay safe now."

"Okay!"

Sakura then scampered off, while Kariya turned back to Byakuya. "Speaking of Sakura though," the latter began. "I've been looking into those few known instances of people with the same ability as hers."

"And?"

"She really needs to learn how to properly use her powers." Byakuya said. "If nothing else, she needs to protect herself. Very much so: I don't know how or why Tokiomi didn't realize it, as if he did, I doubt he'd have given her away. Rin Tohsaka is just small change compared to her. Kariya, those eyes of hers, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. They're ranked as 'Jewel' on the Mages Association's Noble Colors Designation System."

"What?" Kariya said in shock, and Byakuya nodded.

"The only rank above that is 'Rainbow'." Byakuya said. "And there's only one person who's ever possessed anything with that rank."

"I could care less about the Crimson Moon." Kariya snapped. "He's dead anyway, so what does it matter? More to the point…Sakura…if her eyes are ranked as 'Jewel', then if word gets out…"

"Those vultures in the Association just might get an unhealthy interest in her." Byakuya said.

"…how did you even know what they're called?" Kariya asked after a moment, and Byakuya gave him an unimpressed look.

"I'm teaching her magecraft, remember?" Byakuya asked. "And she's described to me before what's it like with her eyes…open, as she calls it. From there, I could make discreet inquiries and draw up conclusions of my own."

"So," Kariya continued. "How do you propose to further hone Sakura's ability to defend herself? I mean we've already agreed teaching her magecraft was part of that, so what do you plan to add?"

" _Kendo_ classes," Byakuya said with a shrug. "Best to start young."

"How is that supposed to help against magi?"

"Because while her eyes allow her to see the lines and points which mark weaknesses in the fundamental structures of whatever she looks at," Byakuya answered. "Cutting or stabbing them isn't as easy as it sounds. People…things…they all resist being killed, especially on such a fundamental level. She can overcome it…but it's a huge strain on her body. It's why she collapsed bleeding when she killed Zouken. A five-hundred-year-old vampire…it's miraculous she was able to overcome his innate resistance to getting torn down right to his very soul. It's even more miraculous that she survived without serious injury."

"…and you think teaching her how to use weapons will help?" Kariya asked skeptically.

"Yes." Byakuya answered. "It'll also teach her discipline, and with it proper judgment on when to use or not to use her powers."

"…point." Kariya said, before draining his glass all at once. "I'll think about it, but you make very good points. That said, can you give me what you've learned about her eyes? I want to see for myself, and you should also tell Sakura the next time you teach her magecraft."

"I was always planning to do both, brother."

"…I see."

"…by the way, you did buy presents for Rin and Aoi while you were in Russia, right?"

"Of course I…oh no…"

Byakuya burst out laughing. "Too late to call Sakura back to bring them with her." He said. "Just bring it there yourself later, I guess."

Grumbling to himself, Kariya stalked out of the kitchen.

* * *

Irises glowed a bright blue as they _looked_ at the bounded fields protecting the Tohsaka property. Lines crisscrossed the shimmering, real yet unreal walls that had been shaped and harnessed to protect that which lay within. Against them, the lines and the points where all the former met and were joined together as a single web, were absolute, infinite, and _solid_ , contrasting with the ethereal and even _ephemeral_ appearance of the bounded fields.

" _But of course,_ " the voice of her other self whispered as it awoke at the back of her mind. " _Death is absolute. Nothing can escape it, not gods, not men, not magi, and certainly not magic._ "

Sakura stood silent and still before the outer gate of the Tohsaka property, her other self's voice whispering to her in her mind. " _Go ahead._ " It urged her. " _Cut the line. Stab the point. Bring it all down. Show these people who threw you away what you truly are._ "

Sakura raised a hand, the voice growing louder and more exultant as it seemed as though she were going to cut the lines or pierce the points over the gate…and then abruptly changing tracks, Sakura rang the doorbell. With a disappointed mewl, the voice subsided, sinking once more into the darkness of their mind.

" _Uncle Tohsaka threw me away._ " Sakura thought, the words tinged with hate and bitterness. " _He wanted to feed me to the worms. But mommy and big sister had nothing to do with that. They couldn't do anything against Uncle Tohsaka, after all._ "

Irises dimmed as Sakura smiled, death averted against those she had judged undeserving of it. Moments later, and the front door opened, a maid coming out to see who was at the front. "Miss…Sakura…?" the maid asked, barely recognizing her after over a year away from the Tohsaka property.

"Hello," Sakura said with a wave of a hand. "I'm Sakura Matou. I'm here to visit mommy and big sister. Can I come in?"

"Um…sure, please do." The maid said while opening the gate, Sakura stepping through without any hindrance.

"Thank you!" Sakura said with a childishly-cheerful voice and a raised hand. The maid smiled, and with a gentle hand on Sakura's back, guided her to the front door and thence into the Tohsaka mansion. From there it was a short walk to the living room, and then Sakura was told to wait while the maid went to fetch her mother.

" _Mommy…_ " Sakura thought, and cast her eyes around the living room. It was as she remembered, expensively-wallpapered with bronze fittings on the walls and heavy drapes along the windows, the furniture all handcrafted hardwood and richly-padded. Portraits and pictures hung on the walls or stood on marbled plinths and on the mantelpiece.

And then her eyes fell on a single photo, and rage and hate ignited as death's eyes blazed bright.

She remembered. Oh, she remembered. There was another photo there, of the four of them. Now though, the photo only had three.

" _They…they…they really did…I…I hate…_ "

"Sakura…!" a woman's voice shouted, and Sakura turned, eyes blazing…

…only for them to dim and go out, as Aoi Tohsaka practically threw herself at her daughter, and crushed her to herself. " _It's so warm…_ " Sakura thought, as she collapsed into her mother's embrace, and felt her familiar caresses on her back. " _Mommy…I…I…_ "

Sakura closed her eyes, and returned the embrace. "Mommy…" she whispered, and allowed herself to cry for the first time since she'd left.

"Yes…yes, Sakura." Aoi sniffed. "Mommy's here. And she won't let you go ever again."

Neither of them knew how long they stayed like them, mother and daughter huddled against each other on the floor, but eventually they parted, Aoi wiping at Sakura's cheeks and caressing her face. "Looks like your uncle's taken good care of you, huh?" Aoi asked with a smile.

Sakura smiled back and nodded. "Yes!" she said. "Daddy's taken really good care of me. Though Uncle Byakuya's also very nice."

Aoi blinked at Sakura's choice of words, and how natural they seemed to come. Her face fell as realization slammed down, and she briefly looked away before taking a deep breath, and turned back to Sakura with a smile. "Yes," she said. "I'd expect nothing less from…your daddy."

Sakura nodded before tilting her head. "Hey," she said. "Where's big sister?"

Aoi's face looked stricken before she looked away. "T-that's…" she stammered.

"Mommy? Is something wrong?"

* * *

"Big sister?" Sakura asked.

Rin looked up from where she was huddled in her room, dead-looking eyes staring into Sakura's own. "Sakura?" Rin whispered. "Why are you here? Didn't daddy say…"

"Daddy's dead." Sakura interrupted. "And I have a new daddy now, so I can visit whenever I want."

"I…see…that's good."

Rin lowered her head, huddling back down. Sakura looked at Aoi, who couldn't bring herself to meet her younger daughter's eyes. Sakura then looked back at Rin, and sitting down on the floor, gently took Rin's hands.

"Hey," Sakura began. "What happened?"

Rin didn't answer at once, but after several moments she raised her head, to meet Sakura's eyes. "They…they…he…Kotone…" she mumbled, the deadness in her eyes giving way to terrified madness. "…they killed…and then…he…they…the monster…ah…AH… **AAAAAAAAAA-!** "

Screaming, Rin launched herself at Sakura, grasping at her throat. Shocked, Sakura couldn't fight back as she was forced to the ground, Rin's hands wrapped around her neck. And in the next moment, Aoi was wrestling Rin off of her, and with the help of the maids put her to her bed.

"No…stop…don't…! NO…!" Rin screamed, thrashing on her bed as the maids struggled to keep her still enough for Aoi to sedate her. "STOP! NO! IT HURTS! NO! NO! NO! THAT'S A BAD PLACE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-! DADDY! HELP! DADDY! HELP ME! PLEASE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

Rin screamed as Aoi shot her full of sedatives, and as they took effect, the girl – who suddenly looked _much_ thinner than when Sakura last saw her – began to calm down and slump into her bed. "No…daddy…please…help me…save…me…" Rin mumbled as her eyes closed and she fell unconscious.

"W-w-w-w-what happened?" Sakura shakily asked, scampering back against the wall, irises glowing _just in case_.

Aoi looked down, and held herself tightly. "Rin…" she whispered, closing her eyes and beginning to sob. "She…during last winter…she heard some of her classmates had gone missing, so…she went to look for them. I…I tried to look for her but…"

Aoi broke off crying, and after a moment Sakura's eyes dimmed, and getting to her feet carefully approached. "Mommy?" she asked.

"Miss Rin was eventually saved by her father." One of the maids softly said. "But…from what we've been told, and her condition right now…they must have done something to her."

"…what did they do to her?" Sakura whispered.

"We don't know." The maid answered.

Sakura looked down, and then turning to look at her crying mother, turned away with a sigh. "I…see." She said. "I…I better go."

She made to leave, only to halt as her mother collapsed to the floor behind her, and hugged her from behind. "Please," Aoi whispered. "Just…stay, for now. Please…"

"Okay…"

* * *

"Byakuya…"

"Yeah, yeah," Byakuya irritably answered. "I heard what Sakura said. And no, I don't know anything about this. If you might remember, I was also out of town at the time. And none of my sources in this city reported anything that needed following up on. Apart from the Great Fire, of course."

"And?"

"And I'm still following up anything that we might need to know on that end." Byakuya said. "I have to be careful though. The Holy Church's Executors are as thick as fleas on a mangy dog around the ruins…"

"I meant about Rin!" Kariya interrupted angrily. "What the hell happened to her?"

Byakuya glared at Kariya. "I'll look into it immediately, then." He snarled. "Though from what we've been told, we can make some deductions. First of all, it sounds like one of the Masters during the war was kidnapping kids for some reason. Then, it seems that some of Rin's friends were among those kidnapped. Rin then decided to go on some childish rescue, and ended getting kidnapped as well. Aoi tried to find her, but couldn't, so she then went to her husband. Who eventually managed to rescue her…but not before the Master did something to her…"

Byakuya broke off as Kariya started ranting and raving at Tokiomi's irresponsibility, all the while pacing the living room and every so often kicking at the walls. "He never cared for me." Sakura said, lying down on the couch. "Now it looks like he never really cared for big sister either."

"Well…" Byakuya said, scratching at his head and internally wondering just _how_ he'd become the voice of reason of all things. "I wouldn't say it's his fault. I mean…he _was_ late to the rescue, but Rin wouldn't need rescuing if Aoi had just called Tokiomi earlier…or hadn't allowed Rin to wander off…"

"None of this would have happened if he'd paid more attention to their safety!" Kariya roared. "Or if he'd kept an eye on them just in case something went wrong! Or sent them someplace out of the city to hide it out in. It's a Holy Grail War, for fuck's sake! They're in danger as long as they're in the city! But no, the war, _his duty as a magus_ was more important than his family…God damn…!"

As Kariya resumed pacing while ranting and raving and spitting out curses against Tokiomi, Sakura looked at her uncle and shrugged. "I agree with daddy." She said, and Byakuya sighed.

"Of course you do."

* * *

The following day, the Matou Clan received a most unwelcome visitor.

"Good morning," Kirei Kotomine said with a polite bow and an oily smile. "I am Kirei Kotomine, here in my capacity as the Overseer of the Holy Grail War. As part of the investigation with regard to the recent…incident, at the last war's conclusion, I am here to ask a few questions. Is it alright to come in?"

" _Of course,_ " Byakuya thought in exasperation. " _Between my niece and her dad getting so fixated on Tohsaka problems, and cleaning out the old worm's leftover stink, it's not like we have enough problems on our plate already. But no, the Holy Church has to add to it, poking their noses where they don't belong, and asking stupid questions. And now Tokiomi's apprentice is here to represent them. Fuck…!_ "

"Of course," Byakuya said with an insincere smile. "Please do come in."

"Thank you."

Still hiding behind a mask of civility, Byakuya led Kirei to the living room, and gestured for him to sit. The priest sat down, followed by Byakuya opposite him. Byakuya did not offer any drinks, a subtle sign to the priest that he should finish his business soon, and be on his way. A bit rude, but not unusual among magi when dealing with…unwelcome, guests.

"So," Byakuya began. "How may I be of assistance today?"

"As I said earlier, I only need answers to a few questions."

"Very well…"

Kirei pulled out a notepad and a pen. "First question," he began. "It has come to our attention that the Matou Clan, despite being a founding family of the Heaven's Feel ritual and thus having a guaranteed spot therein, did not participate in the recent reenactment of said ritual. An answer would be most appreciated."

"There was no need or desire for us to participate." Byakuya answered.

"And why would that be the case?"

Byakuya briefly wondered whether or not it would be wise to reveal Zouken's death, as it might just be taken as indicative of weakness, and cause problems for them. That said, they could bluff revealing it as a show of strength, that even with Zouken dead they had no need to hide it.

 _Decisions, decisions…_

"Arch-Magus Zouken Matou died last year, as you might well know." Byakuya finally said. "With all the business that needed to be attended to, we simply had no time to prepare for the war. And given our…circumstances, it was deemed safer to simply spend winter overseas."

"I see." Kirei said, making a note. "Yes, that is understandable. That would also answer the next question, as to why the Matou mansion was…uninhabited, during the war."

"So it is." Byakuya said, injecting just the right amount of venom into his voice at the implication that magi were trespassing on private property in their absence.

"May I ask where overseas was winter spent at?"

"Saint Petersburg, in the Russian Federation."

"Ah, of course," Kirei said with a nod. "Your family was originally from Russia, yes?"

"That is correct." Byakuya said with a nod. "Though that was a very long time ago, and we have no relatives there anymore."

"And what of…business, assets?"

"That is no concern of yours."

Kirei raised an eyebrow as he met Byakuya's eyes, but the other man just returned Kirei's gaze without flinching. "Very well," he said. "I suppose it is…ancillary, to the issue at hand, and we can respect your privacy on that matter."

"It would be most appreciated." Byakuya said with a nod.

Kirei jotted down more notes. "Moving on," he said. "Just to confirm, your family's current heir is the adopted, formerly-younger daughter of Tokiomi Tohsaka, correct?"

"Yes, and?"

"Is it true that she has recently-visited the Tohsaka property?"

"She did." Byakuya confirmed before leaning forward. "I don't see what relevance this has to the issue of the Great Fire, but I personally don't see anything alarming with my niece visiting her blood relatives. The Tohsaka are a founding family of the Heaven's Feel ritual as well. And unlike the Einzbern, we have maintained our ancestral alliance with them."

"I see." Kirei said while jotting down more notes. "My apologies if I caused offense, we must merely record and understand the movements and activities of magi resident in this territory for circumstantial and referential purposes."

"Alright…"

"However," Kirei began. "As I recall part of the adoption agreement was no contact between the new Matou heiress and her former family. Has that changed?"

"The original signatories were dead." Byakuya said. "And my niece wanted to see her family. Neither myself, nor my brother, saw any reason in keeping her from them so long as she continued to fulfill her obligations to our family otherwise. Indeed, we are…perplexed, as to why that condition was even set down in the first place."

It was a lie, for they knew full well why. Zouken Matou had no _need_ for an heiress, not really. He just needed a brood mare to produce future generations of Matou magi with, and while Tokiomi Tohsaka would have had no difficulty taking into stride the particularly torturous methods employed by Zouken as…training, he would have opposed her reduction into mere breeding material. And he would surely notice that Sakura was not being trained as much as she was being broken had visits been allowed, and that would have set off all sorts of trouble.

Not that it would matter much in the end. As powerful as Tokiomi had been, he was still ultimately just an average magus. Even in his workshop, all he'd have succeeded in doing was slow down Zouken if they ever came to blows. And even his position as Second Owner of Fuyuki would have done little to protect him. Japan was a backwater, and the Association would surely look the other way in the aftermath had Zouken killed Tokiomi, so long as he assumed the latter's duties afterwards, and probably given a few other, token concessions.

The condition was set simply because even with such a foregone conclusion, Zouken wished to avoid going through such troubles.

Of course, said condition was voided when Zouken bought the farm, ironically – poetically even – when he'd tried to break the girl and only awakened her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Add in Tokiomi's…fortuitous, death during the war…

"And what of the Tohsaka side of the agreement?" Kirei asked.

"The representative for their heiress," Byakuya answered. "Aoi Tohsaka, also had no problems lifting the condition. She may visit, and Rin Tohsaka may visit, whenever they wish, within the bounds of proper behavior."

"I see." Kirei said while jotting down some more notes. He reviewed them afterwards, and then nodding, replaced them and his pen in his pocket before getting to his feet. "Very well then, I have all I need to know."

"Of course," Byakuya said, and also getting to his feet. "Allow me to show you out then."

Kirei nodded, and was promptly shown out. Once he was out though…

"Good riddance," Byakuya said while mopping his forehead with a kerchief. He took a glance at the men still working on filling the underground space with concrete, or making measurements on the mansion's walls. "I need a drink…no, bad idea. Or not…coffee? Yes, coffee is fine."

Muttering to himself at how being sober was proving to be only slightly less of a pain as being drunk was, Byakuya stalked off to get himself some coffee.

* * *

A/N

Happy reunions…!

And then one realizes that without Kariya and Berserker to save her from Ryuunosuke and Caster (according to the light novel), Rin doesn't succeed in her little rescue mission, and instead gets caught in Ryuunosuke's…uh, whatever you call it. Tokiomi saves her…eventually, resulting in the above. Don't worry, she'll recover from the trauma, eventually.

No, I don't want to think about what Ryuunosuke might have done to her. She did see Kotone and a few other kids get tortured and die (and having read the manga HOLY HELL WHAT WAS THAT), and probably had a few things done to her too…and again, I don't want to think about it.

And I'm sure once she recovers, she wouldn't want to remember anyway.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 4

"…oof!"

Sakura grunted from the effort to reach the monkey bars, and grimaced as she shifted her weight on one hand while using the other to reach for the next bar. Once she'd gotten a firm grip, she again shifted her weight to that hand, and shifted her other hand to the bar as well. "Wow, Sakura." Rin softly said with a hint of applause. "Last year you couldn't do the monkey bars at all."

"Thanks…but…it's…harder than…it…looks…" Sakura grunted as she slowly made her way over the monkey bars, while Rin watched sitting on a plastic toadstool nearby. Finally, Sakura reached the other end, and grunting from the force of impact, dropped down to the ground. She then collapsed on her rump, breathing hard.

"You need to exercise some more." Rin observed.

"Daddy says that too." Sakura said with a sigh. "I…should listen. He's my daddy after all, and I'll be starting special classes soon."

"Special classes?"

"Yup!" Sakura said with a nod and a smile. "Um…I think…the first is called _kendo_ , where I'll learn how to use swords like how samurai used to, and the other is…um…I don't remember. I think it's like those…um…you know…"

Sakura got up, and made some exaggerated gestures reminiscent of the martial arts techniques Rin had been taught along with magecraft since she'd been four-years old, and after a moment Rin snickered and began to laugh. "It's called _kenpo_ , silly." She said with a smile. "Will you be studying that too? Maybe we can go to the same dojo together!"

"Ah…no, I don't think it's _kenpo_." Sakura said with sad realization. "I don't remember what it's called, but it's not that. So…no, I don't think we'll be learning that together."

"Oh I see."

"…sorry."

Rin smiled and shook her head. "It's alright." She said. "I understand. You're part of a different family now, so…I guess you have different ways to do things with and have to learn. That's…just how it is."

"…you're still my big sister." Sakura said after a moment. "And mommy is still mommy. Only daddy has changed."

"…but…"

Sakura scoffed and got up, a childish pout on her face. "I am…um…the heiress…yes, that, of the Matou Clan." She said. "So I say, you're my sister, and mommy is mommy, even if we all have different names, and that's that."

Rin stared. Sakura stared back. The former then started laughing, and with a blush, the latter sat back down. "Since when did you act like that?" Rin eventually asked. "And who taught you?"

Sakura shrugged. "Just now, really." She said. "And no one taught me. I just…copy how you act."

"I do _not_ act like that!"

"Yes you do…sometimes."

"Okay, maybe sometimes."

The sisters shared a laugh at that. It'd been weeks since Sakura had returned to Fuyuki, and she'd spent as much time as she could seeing her sister. At first it was just visits at the Tohsaka Mansion, playing in Rin's room, but from there she'd coaxed Rin out of her shell and then out of her room, to the backyard, and then out of the mansion, into the neighborhood playgrounds.

It wasn't without rough spots, of course. Sakura had learned early on that bringing up or even just trying to find out what had happened during the war would set Rin off, and from then on forwards diligently avoided the topic. As long as she did that, then Rin was able to stay normal, and play and talk and do just about anything with Sakura as they (once) normally did.

Between the renewed sisterly relationship, and Kirei otherwise keeping Rin busy (and distracted) with her magical training, Rin was finally moving forward from whatever it was that had so scarred her during the war. It was far from completely resolved, as the wrong word or inquiry could cause Rin to break down, but it was progress.

"Though," Sakura said. "We'll be going to the same school together, at least that's what daddy told me a few days ago."

"Really?"

Sakura nodded. "Though," she said. "I'll be one year behind you."

"Well, you _are_ my younger sister." Rin pointed out, and Sakura grinned.

"See?" she said. "It's easy."

"Oh you!"

The girls laughed before Rin got up. "Want to get some ice cream?" she asked.

"Okay!" Sakura said, also getting up. "Though, we'll need to ask for money from mommy or daddy."

"…there they are." Rin said after a moment of looking, pointing to some distance away, where Aoi and Kariya were sitting and chatting to each other on a park bench. "Race you!"

"What? Hey wait…no fair!"

Yelling in childish outrage, Sakura chased after the happily-laughing Rin, the two of them off to get ice cream money from their parents.

* * *

"Elemental…magecraft?" Kariya observed as he watched Sakura work on material provided her by Byakuya as part of her training. "I thought Sakura couldn't use elemental magecraft."

"She can't." Byakuya said. "But that doesn't mean she shouldn't learn the theory regardless. It's a good thing to know. If nothing else, it'll let her deconstruct any elemental magecraft that could be used against her, and figure out a way to counter them. And also, there are ways to get around the restriction. The theory wouldn't be so useless then, would it?"

"Point," Kariya conceded, and Byakuya shrugged before crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow in his brother's direction.

"My turn then… _jujutsu_?" he asked.

" _Kendo_ is all well and good teaching her how to use…weapons, to use her eyes properly with." Kariya said. "But, that should be for last resort, when going up against enemies she has no choice but to kill or be killed. In other situations…something non-lethal, and which is fundamentally defensive in nature, like _jujutsu_ , would be useful."

"Well," Byakuya conceded. "That is a good point. The versatility, and being able to fight properly even without a weapon to fight with, are more points in favor of the idea. Though, she'll have to juggle it all, given she's about to go to school. _Kendo_ , _jujutsu_ , magecraft, and regular schooling…it's going to eat up a lot of time."

"…point."

"Then I'll just have to learn to make proper schedules so I have time for everything, won't I?" Sakura piped up, and the adults looked at her. "What?"

"Well…that's, pretty much it, actually." Byakuya said, nodding at Sakura before looking back at Kariya. "And it's a good skill to have, and to develop starting from a young age. Time management, that is."

"…maybe." Kariya grumbled. "Anyway, earlier you mentioned that there were ways to get around Sakura's limitation."

"Yes…to an extent." Byakuya said with a nod. "Jewels, to be specific. They're attuned to elements depending on whichever nature spirit they were under before being excavated out of the Earth, and with some work, it's possible to 'borrow' their affinity and use it attune an otherwise elementally-neutral spell to a specific element."

"Clever…and Sakura should have an affinity for Jewel Magecraft, thanks to her bloodline." Kariya said with a nod. "Though, affinity is meaningless if we don't know how to use it. Do we have materials or references on how?"

"No, apparently our alliance with Tohsaka in the past didn't extend to sharing materials." Byakuya said with a shake of his head. "Not surprised, magi are magi, allies or not. And getting the materials we need will be costly, one way or another."

"…Sakura could just ask Rin for help."

"I can't do that." Sakura piped up again, and then looked away as the adults looked her way. "Um…I…I am Matou's heiress now. And…big sister is Tohsaka's heiress. While we don't have to be like how Uncle Tohsaka and…grandfather, wanted us to be, I don't want to put big sister in a bad spot as a magus. Asking her for help…it could be bad for her. I don't know…but I don't want to do bad for her."

The adults stared at Sakura, and then Byakuya nodded. "Point," he said. "As Tohsaka's heiress – as much as I hate to admit it – Rin could find herself in an awkward situation if word gets out that she's willing to share family secrets."

"Sakura _is_ family." Kariya ground out.

"I'm not disputing that." Byakuya said. "But other magi might not care. They might think Rin isn't serious about her responsibilities and expectations as a magus, and with that in mind, try to take advantage of perceived Tohsaka weakness."

"Or, it could be seen as strength," Kariya countered. "The alliance between our families reinforced by the bond between sisters, regardless of their different names."

"True…but right now they're children." Byakuya pointed out. "It'd be an obvious bluff, and with just as obviously no strength behind it. Are you willing to take the risk?"

"…damn it."

"Relax," Byakuya said with a grin. "I didn't think of ways to go around Sakura's limitations only to fall short because of lack of material on the theoretical behind Jewel Magecraft. Sakura, you said your ribbon was given to you by your sister, right?"

"Yes."

"And you said she said that she'd made it for you?"

"Yes."

"Can I borrow it for a moment?"

"Huh? Oh, um…okay."

Sakura got up from her desk, and walking over untied her ribbon and handed it to Byakuya. Nodding at his niece, Byakuya opened what few circuits he had, and performing structural analysis confirmed what he'd suspected. "As I thought." He said, while handing the ribbon back to Sakura, who tied it back in place at her brow. "It was made from a jewel. I don't know what kind of jewel, but just the fact that it was a jewel that's been worked on with Tohsaka magecraft is enough."

Sakura and Kariya blinked, and then their eyes widened in realization. "I see!" Sakura said. "If I study my ribbon, then…!"

Byakuya nodded. "Yes," he said. "You should be able to figure out the basics of Tohsaka Jewel Magecraft. It might not seem like much, but the basics will be enough to build on. Learn to crawl before walking, and all that. That said, seeing as the ribbon is your only material to learn Jewel Magecraft from, you shouldn't do it…yet. Practice your basics, from gradation air through structural analysis to reinforcement and alteration. Until your prana control and manipulation is sufficiently-refined, we'll hold off on going further."

Sakura nodded. "Okay, I understand." She said, and Byakuya nodded as well.

"Good girl," he said with a smile, and Sakura beamed at him. "Patience is a virtue, and it looks like you've got it down pat."

"After she learns the basics of Jewel Magecraft, then what?" Kariya asked.

"There's that jewel Zelretch gave her." Byakuya pointed out. "She can study that afterwards, and possibly learn even more about Jewel Magecraft from it, _without_ risking destroying such a priceless material as would come with poking around its mysteries before learning the basics first. And from there…well, it's up to her."

"And," Kariya said, looking unimpressed. "If you would…nudge, Sakura in a certain direction from there, where would it be to?"

Byakuya gestured at the expansive library around them. "Synthesis." He simply said, causing both Kariya and Sakura to look at each other in confusion, before turning back to Byakuya.

"What's that?" they asked at the same time.

"You might not want to believe it," Byakuya said. "But Zouken's methods were actually producing valid research data. Centuries' worth of it, all in this here library. Sadly – in a way – he wasn't really taking it anywhere, just letting it pile up for some reason, and only focusing on staying alive. What a waste…what's the point in being immortal, when there's nothing to live for?"

"You…you…" Kariya stammered out in mounting rage. "You want Sakura to…"

"To use all this information," Byakuya said, again gesturing at the library around them. "Get what's useful out of it, and merge it with her by then-foundation and framework on Jewel Magecraft, and build something out of it? Yes, yes I do. That's what synthesis is. Take what you have, and use it to make something new."

"Madness!" Kariya spat. "You know as well as I do just _how_ all this…knowledge, was gained. It's… ** _tainted_**."

"I suppose it is." Byakuya agreed with a nod. "But as it is now, the victims, our family even, died for nothing. Not when Zouken just let what he learned from all that pain, sorrow, and death just pile up and gather dust. But if Sakura makes something wonderful out of it…then maybe, just maybe, they died for something."

Kariya still looked murderous, but after Sakura hesitantly took his hand, he took a deep breath, and pinching his nose mentally counted to ten. "Can you…" he began with evident effort. "Can you leave us alone for a while, Byakuya?"

"…why?"

"Father-daughter moment, now please…"

"Okay…"

Shrugging to himself, Byakuya left the library and the father and daughter alone. Kariya waited until he and Sakura were alone in the library, and then with a sigh, he knelt down before her. "Alright," he said. "I'm not very good with words, so I'll keep it simple. Alright?"

Sakura nodded, and Kariya smiled at her. "I won't tell you not to become a magus." He began. "I won't tell you live up to your uncle's – one or the other – expectations. Because what you want from life, what you want to become in life, _who_ you will be, has to be decided by your own choices. Be who and what you want to be, alright?"

Sakura nodded again, and smiled at Kariya. "Daddy," she began. "You said you weren't good with words, but that was very good."

Kariya laughed and ruffled Sakura's hair. "I have my moments." He said before getting up. Taking a look at the library around them, he took a deep breath and sighed. "I hate to admit it, but Byakuya might have a point. As things stand, the price paid to get all this has been for nothing…but you could change that…if you choose to. It's all up to you."

Kariya looked down at Sakura with a smile. "If you want to be a magus," he said. "Then go for it. Just remember, when and if you make that choice, what the cost will be to yourself, and ask yourself if you can pay it, and if you can live with yourself afterwards."

Sakura looked down, fingers clenching and unclenching, and then nodding, looked back up at Kariya. "I understand." She said, before her face turned harsh and cold in a way a child's face shouldn't be. "At least, I don't want to become like Uncle Tohsaka."

"…it's all up to you, Sakura. You will be who you choose to be."

"Yes, daddy."

* * *

Days passed, until finally, as cherry blossoms flew on the cool winds of spring, the school year began, and Sakura attended her first class. As the entire class was composed of first-graders, they were all asked one by one to write their names on the chalkboard, and to introduce themselves to their homeroom teacher and classmates.

One by one they went to the front, did what they were supposed to, until it was Sakura's turn. Chalk drew out the kanji for her name on the board, and then Sakura bowed to the class as her father had tutored her how to. "My name is Matou Sakura." She said. "Pleased to meet you all."

Polite applause echoed in the classroom, and the teacher nodded with a smile and gestured for Sakura to return to her seat. One by one, those students whose names came after Sakura's introduced themselves, until the class was done. "Alright then," the teacher said, clapping her hands. "Since today is first day, literally for all of you, the first thirty minutes of the period will be free, so you can get to know each other. After that, we'll have an activity, so…go ahead, and make friends with each other!"

"YES!" the students chorused before turning to each other.

Sakura in particular, found herself approached by two other girls. "Hello," one of them said. "I'm Rin Moriyama…I really like your ribbon."

Sakura snickered. "Oh…sorry, I didn't mean…um…my ribbon you see, my…big sister gave it to me. And her name is also Rin." She quickly explained.

Rin blinked, and then also snickered. "I can see why it's funny." She said, before she and the two other girls shared another laugh.

"I'm Miki Akagi." The other girl said. "Rin and I are neighbors so…well, if you're going to be friends with Rin, then we should be friends too, right?"

"Okay!" Sakura said with a nod. "Um…how about you bring your desks over, like they're doing over there? That way you won't have to stand."

"Oh that's a good idea!"

"It really is."

Sakura helped her new friends bring their desks and seats over, until the three girls were sitting in a circle. "So…" Sakura began, poking her fingers together. "What now?"

"Uh…yeah…" Rin began, scratching her head.

"…let's start with…what's your favorite color?" Miki asked.

"Red…what's yours?"

"I like green." Miki said.

"I like white." Rin said. "Okay…how about…what's your favorite food?"

"Ice cream!" Sakura said, and the girls grinned.

"That's our favorite food too!" they said. "What about flavor?"

"I like vanilla, though chocolate is good too."

"Ha!" Miki said triumphantly. "I told you chocolate is the best!"

Rin stuck out her tongue. "Strawberry's my favorite, and always will be." She childishly said, to the laughter of the other girls. "But I like chocolate and vanilla too. Just…not as much."

"That's fair." Sakura said, before tapping her chin with a finger. "Okay…um, how about…"

* * *

"Big sis!" Sakura cheered as she led her friends to where they'd agreed to have lunch together. "I brought friends!"

"Huh?" Rin asked.

"Hello, I'm Rin Moriyama." Rin M. introduced herself with a bow. "Pleased to meet you."

"And I'm Miki Akagi." Miki introduced herself, also with a bow. "Pleased to meet you."

"Huh…oh, I um…I'm Rin Tohsaka. Nice to meet you too."

Rin M. and Miki looked at Sakura. "I thought you said you were sisters." The former said. "But you have different names."

"Eh, it's complicated." Sakura said, sitting down on the bench next to Rin, under a tree to the back of the school. "Anyway, sit down, and let's all have our lunch."

Rin M. and Miki looked at each other, and sat down next to Sakura. For a while, the four girls ate in silence, and then Rin broke the silence. "So, um," she hesitantly began. "You're in the same class as my sister?"

"Yes, Class 1-2." Miki answered.

"We only met earlier today, but we get along well." Rin M. added.

"I see." Rin said with a smile. "That's good. I hope you'll be good friends with my little sister from now on."

"Yes!" they chorused, and Sakura beamed at Rin.

"See, we're friends."

Rin smiled wider. "Yes," she said. "I can see that. It's good to have friends…it really is…"

Rin trailed off with a mournful tone, and ignoring Sakura and her friends' questioning expressions, turned back to her lunch. The three younger girls shared a worried glance at each other, and silently returned to their meals. Rin continued to ignore them, monotonously putting rice and meat into her mouth, chewing, and the swallowing like a machine, her mind withdrawing in on itself at the memories of friends dead and gone, but never forgotten.

Never forgotten…

…how could they ever be forgotten…

…whether their names…the sight of their smiling faces…the sound of their voices…

…the sight of their agonized faces in the dark…

…the sound of their screams and vain pleas for the pain to stop, for help, and for their mothers…

…and the smell of blood and worse…

…worse…

…so much worse…

"I…I…" Rin stammered out as she finished her lunch and quickly closing her bento and putting it back in her bag, got to her feet. "I have to go."

"Big sis?"

"Sorry…I…I really have to…"

Without another word, Rin left at a run, leaving Sakura and her friends gaping in her wake.

* * *

"I'm sorry…I…"

Sakura broke off as Aoi sank down, and gentling holding Sakura's face, pressed a kiss against her forehead. "You have _nothing_ to be sorry for." Aoi reassured Sakura. "With how much your sister's recovered over the past few weeks, you couldn't have known that bringing your friends over at lunch could have caused her to break down. In fact…ever since you've come back into our lives…Rin's done so much better that in the weeks before you did. So…don't be sorry. You have _nothing_ to be sorry for, and I have so much to thank you for instead."

"Mommy…"

Sakura nodded, and Aoi kissed her again before getting up. The rest of the day had gone by in a swirl of worry, though Rin M. and Miki had both been reassured by Sakura that they'd done nothing wrong, and that Rin was just…shy, and didn't do well with strangers. Once classes had finished for the day, Sakura had immediately rushed to find Rin, only to discover she'd gone home as quickly as she could.

And so Sakura had followed her…

…leading to the now, where she stood in the Tohsaka Mansion's foyer, being fussed over by her mother.

"Where's big sis?" Sakura asked.

"She's in her room." Aoi said with a nod and a pat on Sakura's shoulder. "If you want to see her, go ahead. I'm sure that it'll do her a world of good to see you now."

Sakura nodded, and quickly rushed across the foyer to the staircase, and then up to the upper floors, to where she knew Rin's room was. On arriving, Sakura hesitated to just come in unannounced, as that just might make things worse. Knocking once, she knocked again when there was no response, and then a third time.

"Big sis," Sakura said, taking hold of the doorknob and turning it. "It's me, Sakura. I'm coming in, alright?"

There was still no response, but even so Sakura still went in. And as she expected, Rin was there, still in her uniform, slumped in one corner and holding her arms tight around herself.

Sakura stared for a few moments, and with a sad expression, lowered her face. "Big sis," she said softly. "I'm sorry."

"…I'm hopeless, aren't I?" Rin murmured. "Even though you were just trying to brighten the day, I just had to mess it up."

Sakura looked up, and gave a small smile. "No, it's alright." She said. "We're sisters, after all."

It didn't make much sense, but it was enough. Rin smiled back, weakly, before lowering her head again.

"…thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

"I heard Rin had another episode today." Kariya said after Sakura came to find him on coming home.

"She did." Sakura answered with a sigh. "I…I brought my friends over so we could all eat lunch together. I didn't think…"

"It's alright." Kariya interrupted, coming over to hug his daughter. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have seen this coming."

"Yes…that's what mommy said to."

"Did she?" Kariya said with a smile. "You're a good girl, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Then listen to your mother."

Sakura grinned, and Kariya smiled back while ruffling her hair. "I also heard that you came over and smoothed things over." He said.

"Yes, I did!"

"That's good." Kariya said with a nod. "This way, there won't be any misunderstandings from what happened today, and you can start over tomorrow."

"Big sis said that she wanted to meet my friends again tomorrow."

"See?" Kariya said with a smile, and Sakura giggled.

"…big sis is really getting better, isn't she?" she asked.

"Yes, she is." Kariya said. "She's not all better yet, but she's getting there. And you've been a big help, never doubt that."

"Mommy said so too." Sakura said with a sigh. "But I don't think so."

"Oh?" Kariya asked in surprise. "And why not?"

"Well…I'm just being her sister, so…"

"And that's all you really need to do to help. Nothing more and nothing less, and it's more than enough."

"…mommy said that too."

"See?" Kariya said with a raised eyebrow and a mocking smile, that had Sakura looking down with a blush. "Don't think too much of it, and just be there for her when she needs you. That's all she needs. Everything else will follow."

"Yes, daddy."

Kariya nodded before checking his wristwatch. "Now," he said. "Go and freshen up. You wouldn't want to be late for your first _jujutsu_ class, would you?"

"No, of course not!" Sakura said. "I'll go and get ready then."

Kariya nodded, and Sakura hurried off. " _Still a long way to go,_ " he thought as he watched her run off. " _But it's a start, to get things to the way they should be._ "

* * *

A/N

A largely fluffy chapter, though necessary to see Rin finally recovering from her (completely understandable and justified) PTSD born of her…um, experience, with Ryuunosuke and Caster. No, you will _never_ find out what they did to her. Guess if you want, but I'm not going into that.

A time skip will follow this chapter, as not much will really happen at this point in their lives (Sakura is six and Rin is seven so what can they do) beyond Rin's recovery and Sakura's baby steps trying to make something worthwhile out of the rotting carcass that Zouken made of the Matou magecraft. Who knows? Shirou might finally make an appearance after a time skip.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 5

 _"Who are you?"_

 _The vaguely-humanoid silhouette materialized from the fog, sitting on the ground…no…not the ground…more a pool of water, clear as crystal, but in the darkness of this imaginary void, infinite blackness stretched below as far as the eye could see, the surface barely visible with reflected light. Of what? Where did the light come from? And how?_

 _Was there even light in this place? Was this even a place? Or would…no-place, be a more fitting word to call it with?_

 _It didn't matter._

 _"Are you asking me that question again?" the silhouette asked with a voice that came from everywhere and nowhere. "I gave you an answer then, and I'll give you the same answer now. You can call me God. You could call me the World, or the Universe. Or the truth…the beginning…the end…and of course, I am you."_

 _"…that's a lie."_

 _The silhouette's smile vanished. "And what makes you think I'm lying?" it asked._

 _"…all those things you said before you said you are me…you're referring to the Root, aren't you? The Origin of All Things?"_

 _"And if I am?"_

 _"It's impossible. No one can be born with that as their origin, because if they were, they, and everything and everyone around them, would be destroyed by the World."_

 _"…not bad, **magus**. Then, if you think I'm lying, then what do you think I am? **Who** do you think I am?"_

 _"I didn't say you were a liar."_

 _The silhouette smiled inhumanly wide. "Oh?" it asked._

 _"I only said what you said was a lie. You, though…you weren't lying…and were lying at the same time. You're a liar but at the same time you are not."_

 _Laughter echoed in the void. "Oh, very good **magus**." The silhouette said with glee. "Keep at it, you just might be figuring out the truth."_

 _"You can't be what you claim to be, not only because neither of us would be here if you were, but also because what you claim to be doesn't have a name either, does it? If it had a name, then it would have a single meaning, and if it did, it wouldn't be the source of everything. Just that much makes this conversation meaningless…everything is meaningless to it…"_

 _"Hmm…and…?"_

 _Sakura opened her eyes, irises glowing, and stared into eyes the exact same shape and color as hers, their eyes glowing bright in the dark. "Our eyes," she said. "You are why we have our eyes."_

 _SAKURA smiled. "So you finally figured it out." She said. "I didn't lie. It only sounded like I was lying."_

 _"Yes, I know." Sakura said with a nod. "Everything you said was true, but false at the same time. I know that now, along with what you…we, are."_

 _"You are me."_

 _"I am you."_

 _"We…"_

 _"…are…"_

 _"…one."_

 _A single pair of eyes stared into the void, eyes glowing with the promise of death._

* * *

Rin was walking through a park on the way home from an errand across the city when the sound of boys loudly engaged in rough play reached the sound of her ears. " _Boys…_ " she thought with a touch of annoyance.

Moving on with the intent of ignoring them, the sound continued to increase, until she turned a corner and saw them at the edges of her vision. Despite her lack of any real interest, curiosity made her look, and she saw what looked like a gang of about five, no, six older boys, maybe twelve or thirteen, gathered around what looked like another boy, much younger than they were.

In an instant, Rin knew it was more than just rough play. Not when the younger boy was curled up protectively on the ground, and being kicked at and stepped on by the older boys around him.

She shouldn't get involved, as she had no business in whatever was going on there, bullying or not. But…should she really just do _nothing_?

It was because nothing had been done quickly enough that _that_ had happened five years ago. It was because nothing had been done back then that so many had died. Alone…in pain…in the dark…

…she couldn't do anything then. She'd tried and failed. Help had come for her, almost too late, and too late for her friends and everyone else back then.

But she was stronger now. And she would _not_ do nothing now. It might only be bullying _now_ , but if nothing was done, then who knew what those rotten thugs might do tomorrow.

"Hey!" Rin yelled, rushing over as the boys turned in the direction of her voice. "What do you think you're doing? Get off him!"

The boys laughed. "Look at this, guys!" the biggest one among them, their leader, no doubt, said loudly. "Little girly here's trying to play the hero."

The boys laughed again, and the big bully stepped forward and shoved Rin with a push at her shoulder. "Go home, little girl." He said with a sneer. "Play with your dolls and mind your own business. Manly stuff here isn't for…!"

Without batting an eyelid, Rin drew a foot back and kicked out hard, right between the big bully's legs. The boy gasped in pain, hands going to his crotch as he tottered forwards…

…and Rin's fist met his chin in a rising uppercut that knocked him back, out cold, onto the ground. "Who's next?" she said, stepping over him and glaring at the shocked and gaping boys. They looked at each other and fled, leaving their unconscious leader and their former victim behind.

Rin sighed and approached the latter, who on closer inspection was probably her age, and was already up on his knees, and shaking his head to clear it. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The boy said, rubbing and wincing at tender spots across his body, before smiling an honest and open smile at Rin. "I'm tougher than I look. But still, thanks for the help."

"No problem." Rin said, returning the smile. "Though, you really shouldn't let big bullies like them push you around."

"I wasn't." the boy said, looking down to the ground. Rin followed his eyes, and blinked at what looked like stray puppy, licking at itself. "They were picking on the puppy, so I had to do something. I managed to get the puppy away from them, but they…caught up to me, and tried to take it back."

"And you tried to stop them." Rin said.

The boy nodded. "I couldn't let them keep hurting it." He said. "It's just a puppy. But when I wouldn't give it back…well, you saw."

"Yeah, I did." Rin said with a sigh. "Talk about a rotten bunch…bullying is bad enough, but hurting animals? And a puppy at that?"

Rin glanced disdainfully at the unconscious bully lying on the ground nearby, and then sighing again, turned back to the boy with a smile. "Anyway," she said. "I'm just glad I was able to help."

The boy grinned at her. "Yeah, and thank you for the help." He said. "My name's Shirou Emiya, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Rin Tohsaka." Rin returned the introduction with a nod. "Nice to meet you too."

Shirou nodded, and then reaching down, picked up the puppy before getting up. "So," Rin began. "What now?"

"…I don't know." Shirou admitted. "I think I'll ask my dad what to do next. Want to meet him? He's really nice."

Rin wondered if it was really alright, but the boy in front of her was just so…honest, that she couldn't really say no. "Sure," she said, falling into step beside him. "Though I hope it's not too far. I have to get home soon."

"It's alright." Shirou said. "He should just be across the park. Though…"

Shirou's face fell, and Rin tilted her head in confusion. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"He might not be happy I got into a fight." Shirou answered.

"Well, in that case, I'll speak up for you." Rin said after a moment. "It's not like you started it, and you were trying to protect a little puppy from a bunch of bullies. You said he was nice, didn't you? Then your dad will understand."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, that's true! Thanks!"

Rin smiled at Shirou's enthusiasm. "Y-you're welcome." She said in reply.

* * *

"There he is!" Shirou said, pointing across the street on the far side of the park, at a café. Rin discreetly reinforced her eyes, homing in on a worn-looking, dark-haired man in a rumpled, dark-colored business ensemble sitting at a table and tapping at a laptop.

" _Shirou must take after his mother._ " She thought. " _There's no physical resemblance between them at all. That, or he's adopted. And…what does it matter, really?_ "

Rin sighed at her own overthinking of the situation, quietly waiting with Shirou on the sidewalk until the traffic light turned green and they crossed the street on the pedestrian lane. Once across, Shirou quickly led the way to the café, and to where his dad was sitting at.

"Dad!" he said, and the worn-looking man turned in his direction.

"Oh, Shirou…" he began, before noticing Rin in surprise. "Oh…you brought a friend. Care to introduce us?"

Shirou nodded, before gesturing at Rin, who bowed respectfully. "This is Rin Tohsaka." He said. "We met at the park, where she helped me save this puppy. Tohsaka, this is my dad, Kiritsugu Emiya."

"Rin…Tohsaka…" Kiritsugu echoed thoughtfully, before giving a weary smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Tohsaka. Though…save a puppy? What do you mean, Shirou?"

Shirou fidgeted on the spot, still holding the happily-panting puppy in his arms. "Well, you see…" he hesitantly began.

Taking a deep breath, Shirou explained how he'd run across a bunch of older boys picking on a stray puppy. Unable to let them do as they please, Shirou had run in, taken the puppy, and tried to get it away to safety. Emphasis on try: the bullies had caught up to him, and when he'd refused to let them keep picking on it, decided to try and force him to give it up.

Kiritsugu raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing while eyeing the scruffy evidence on Shirou's clothes of the older boys kicking him down and then stepping and kicking all over him. Shirou then continued, telling of how Rin had noticed, and running up had told the bullies off. And when they tried to scare her off, how she'd knocked their leader out and sent the rest of them running.

Kiritsugu had to laugh at that. "Thugs are like that." He said with an impressed look at Rin. "They're only tough when picking on people weaker than they are. The moment they come up against someone bigger and stronger than they are, they show their true, cowardly colors."

"That's certainly true." Rin said with a nod, and Shirou nodded as well.

"Here's to hoping they learn their lesson." He said.

Kiritsugu nodded, and then turned back to Rin. "Well," he said with a small smile. "I suppose I should thank you for helping my son out of a tight spot. How about a snack, Miss Tohsaka?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to…"

Kiritsugu laughed off her protests. "It's no trouble at all." He said, gesturing at the other seats on the table. "You too, Shirou. While you really should learn to pick your fights, I can't really scold you for doing what you did. Sit down, and order whatever you want."

Shirou nodded, and scrambling over, sat down on one of the seats, Rin hesitantly following afterwards. Kiritsugu called for a menu, and after a few moments a waiter came and provided them. "Dad," Shirou began while Rin perused the menu. "What should we do with the puppy?"

"Does it have a name or a collar showing if anyone owns it?"

"No…"

"Hmm…well, it does seem like it's just a stray, so if you want, we can keep it."

"Really? That's great! Thanks dad!"

"Don't celebrate just yet." Kiritsugu said with a grin. "Taking care of a pet's hard work. You'll have to feed and clean him regularly, and you have to make sure he gets his shots at a clinic, along with other things."

"I know." Shirou said with a nod. "But don't worry, I'll take care of all that, no problem."

"So long as you understand then." Kiritsugu said, and Shirou nodded, before picking up the menu and looking over the options himself.

* * *

Rin bowed low about an hour later. "Thanks for the meal." She said. "But I really have to get going now."

Kiritsugu nodded. "You're welcome." He said. "Besides, as I said earlier, I also had to thank you for helping Shirou. And of course, Shirou and I have to get going as well. Stay safe on your way home, Miss Tohsaka."

Shirou nodded. "Stay safe, alright?" he said.

"I will." Rin said with a nod. "Bye, and I hope we see each other again."

"Bye!"

Shirou waved back as Rin quickly walked off with a wave of her own. And then picking up the puppy smiled while rubbing its back. "She was a nice girl, wasn't she?" he asked.

"Yes, I suppose she was." Kiritsugu admitted. Of course, it was what he didn't say that was really important.

 _Of all people Shirou had to meet, it was the Second Owner. Then again, I suppose it's better to meet her young, and to start out on good terms with her than otherwise. It'll make things easier when she finds out we've essentially been squatting on her territory._

 _Though, she does seem like the good sort. I never met or faced Tokiomi during the war, but if I remember his psych profile right, he certainly wouldn't have seemed out of place among your typical greedy and amoral magi._

 _Thankfully, his daughter seems to be different…the good kind. Hopefully that won't change as she grows older. It'd be a shame if she does._

Kiritsugu glanced at his son with a smile. "Now," he said. "Let's go."

"Are we going home now, dad?" Shirou asked.

"I was planning to," Kiritsugu admitted. "But since we're taking a stray home with us, we need to buy some things first."

"Like what?"

"A collar, for one thing." Kiritsugu said. "A dog bowl, and dog food for other things. And maybe other things as well."

"How about a dog house?" Shirou asked.

Kiritsugu glanced at Shirou with a raised eyebrow. "I was actually thinking we could build one together," he said. "But if you'd prefer we just buy one…"

"No, no!" Shirou quickly said. "If we can build it on our own, let's do that!"

Kiritsugu laughed and patted Shirou, and then the puppy as well when it barked at them. "Oh, and we'll need to come up with a good name for the puppy as well." He said.

"Hmm…I wonder…"

* * *

"Hey sis," Sakura greeted Rin as the latter arrived at her home, the younger girl sitting on the couch eating cookies and drinking juice.

"Hey, Sakura." Rin said, walking over and sitting down next to her sister. "Sorry I wasn't here when you came over. I had to visit Kotomine Church for some important things, and then I got sidetracked on the way back."

"It's okay." Sakura said. "And what do you mean you got sidetracked?"

Rin sighed, and began to tell the story of how she was cutting across a park only to across a gang of bullies picking on another boy…who later turned out to have been trying to protect a puppy the gang had earlier been picking on. Sakura listened in silence, only to start snickering as Rin told of how she'd first kicked the gang leader in the balls, before knocking him out cold with an uppercut afterwards.

"And serves him right." Sakura said. "Though, did you really have to go physical? I mean, why not just tell them to go away with magic?"

"Not everything has to be done with magic." Rin pointed out. "Besides, while mental interference has its uses, it does have side-effects if used too much. Best not to use it when you have alternatives. And also…"

"…it felt good, didn't it?" Sakura finished. "Knocking that thug out with your bare hands?"

"It did." Rin admitted. "Not that he didn't deserve it, of course. Here's to hoping he's learned his lesson…though he probably didn't."

"Even if he didn't," Sakura said with a shrug. "Getting shown up by a girl like what happened earlier, will probably ruin him in his gang's eyes. Not so tough now, is he?"

"There is that." Rin said with a nod. "Though how does that help?"

"It doesn't." Sakura admitted with another shrug. "Though if he doesn't learn his lesson, I guess it could count as more punishment, that even if he keeps trying to look oh so tough and…what did he call himself? Manly…oh well, whatever it was, he still got knocked out by a little girl."

"Yeah, what a loser." Rin scoffed. "What does it matter if you're a boy or girl? Sure, there are some things either can do that the other can't, but does it really matter?"

"No, it doesn't."

"And here's to him continuing to get what's his for thinking so." Rin said with vicious satisfaction.

"Right, sis!"

* * *

"Don't forget about the _kendo_ tournament next week!" Sakura said as she was leaving. "I expect to see you in the audience!"

"Yeah, yeah," Rin said before giving a challenging smile. "Just make sure you get promoted afterwards, alright?"

"Of course I will!"

Rin just grinned, and Sakura grinned back before heading out to go back home. Going back inside, Rin pulled out the gem she'd gotten from Kirei, and heading over to her workshop, pulled out the sheaf of papers stored inside.

" _Let's see…_ " Rin thought to herself while going through the papers. " _Great…just great…they're in Italian…I'll have to translate all this before really getting to work…_ "

Rin sighed along with some mutterings about how literal her father's agents in the Clock Tower could be. They'd promised her – with Kirei as an intermediary as her father's former apprentice – that they'd get her copies of certain schematics and notes kept in the Department of Mineralogy's archive. And while they seemed to be – and Kirei had vouched for them – genuine copies of the real thing…that was just it: literal copies.

 _At least the diagrams are accurate. And the equations, formulas, and calculations don't need any translation, at least at first glance. The notes though…damn it…and it's 15th Century Italian vernacular too…I don't have a dictionary for that!_

Biting back a series of vile oaths that would probably have Aoi threatening to wash Rin's mouth out with soap, Rin gathered up the documents and finding an empty file folder to put them in, placed them on a shelf. " _Where am I supposed to find a dictionary or any kind of help translating 15th Century Italian?_ " Rin thought angrily. " _Well, there's someone who might…_ "

Rin sighed as she realized she'd have to ask Kirei for help in translating them. As an agent of the Holy Church, he'd surely have access to materials Rin could use in translating 15th Century Italian vernacular. But while Rin had no doubt he'd help as part of his obligation to her father, his own mentor, Kirei would give it with his usual sarcastic, needlessly cynical, and unwelcome remarks and questions.

" _Well, it can't be helped._ " Rin thought while pulling out a tin and opening it pulled out a number of unused gems. " _Best to just see it as what comes with being a magus, and to just roll with it._ "

With a sigh, Rin opened her circuits and using a small knife to cut her finger, used her blood as a medium to transfer and store her prana inside the gems.

 _Magus duties aside though…I hope I can meet that nice boy from earlier again someday. Shirou Emiya…_

* * *

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully, the daily routine of schoolwork, magus and martial arts training, and what passed for her hobbies in what little free time Rin had persisting. Sakura didn't visit anymore during the week, too busy with preparing for the tournament, though Rin visited on the night before to pass on her final well-wishes.

On the day of the tournament though…

"Emiya!" Rin shouted, waving a hand in the air.

Shirou turned his head in surprise, and then blinking, smiled widely while running over. "Oh wow!" he said as he approached. "You're going to watch the tournament too?"

"My sister's participating, so of course I am!" Rin said.

"My," Aoi joined in with a smile. "Is this the friend you made that you were telling me about earlier this week? Won't you introduce us?"

"Yes, mommy!" Rin said with a nod, before gesturing at Shirou who bowed deeply. "This is Shirou Emiya. Emiya, this is my mother, Aoi Tohsaka."

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." Shirou said, and Aoi smiled warmly at him.

"It's nice to meet you too, Shirou." She said. "My daughter's told me all about what you were trying to do on that day. Such a gallant young man…I'm sure you'll grown up just fine."

Shirou laughed nervously and looked away with pink cheeks, embarrassed at receiving such praise from a beautiful and very motherly figure. "Um…thank you…" he said before coughing. "Tohsaka…you said your sister's participating?"

Rin nodded. "Yes," she said while pointing at the list of names posted on a bulletin board next to the civic center's entrances. "Sakura Matou…she's in the junior division…"

"Ah…junior division…wait, Sakura _Matou_? I thought you said she was your sister, so why the different names?"

"Eh…it's complicated."

"Oh sorry."

Rin shook her head. "What about you though, Shirou?" she asked. "Is a friend of yours participating too, or did you just come to watch?"

"My older sister's participating," Shirou said, also pointing at the same bulletin board Rin was pointing at earlier. "Taiga Fujimura…senior division, though."

Rin crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow and giving Shirou a mocking smile. "I thought you said she was your sister," she parroted Shirou's earlier question. "So why the different names?"

Shirou laughed nervously as Aoi chuckled at Rin's good-natured barb. "It's complicated." He said.

"Sorry…"

"It's fine."

The two eleven-year olds snickered at their own exchange, and then Rin looked over Shirou's shoulder, the latter turning as well to look at Kiritsugu as he walked over. Today he was dressed in nothing less than a formal kimono, very well made too from the look of things, though his face still looked as worn as ever.

"Miss Tohsaka," Kiritsugu began. "How surprising to see you here…I assume this is your mother?"

"Yes," Rin said with a nod, and gesturing at her mother who made a polite bow. "This is my mother, Aoi Tohsaka."

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Mister Emiya." Aoi said formally. "Your son's a very fine young man."

Kiritsugu chuckled and nodded. "I'm glad to hear you think so." He said. "I have very high hopes for him, hopes that I'm sure won't be disappointed."

Shirou grinned at the praise, and Rin smiled in sympathy, though internally she felt a surge of jealousy.

 _Father should be here…_

 _…with me, mommy, and Sakura…_

 _…but he had to do his duty, and he paid the price for it._

 _I can't blame him for that…_

 _…I can't…_

"…we have to go in now," Kiritsugu was saying. "I'm sure Shirou and your daughter can catch up later, won't they?"

"Yes, of course." Aoi said with a nod, and with a nod of his own, Kiritsugu led Shirou away.

"See you later, Tohsaka!" Shirou said with a wave.

"Yeah, bye!" Rin said, also returning the wave.

Mother and daughter watched them leave, and then checking her wristwatch, Aoi pulled out their own tickets along with IDs for herself and Rin both. "Shall we go in as well?" Aoi asked.

Rin nodded. "Okay!" she said.

* * *

A/N

Time-skip successful…welcome to the game, Shirou Emiya. And what an entrance you've made, meeting Rin Tohsaka of all people and becoming friends with her.

Congratulations to Rin too, for a successful recovery and getting something out of it as well. Don't ever _bully_ anyone in sight of her. To her, it's essentially a watered-down version of what Ryuunosuke was doing, tormenting the weak and helpless for one's own sick amusement, and unless you want to get beaten down by a constantly-practicing _kenpo_ practitioner, do _not_ push that Berserk Button.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 6

A lot of people had come to watch the annual prefectural _kendo_ tournament, held this year in Fuyuki City. The stands were packed with the audience, many dressed in formal kimonos or western clothes, while others flew small flags of their patron dojos and schools or wore _hachimaki_ emblazoned with the Rising Sun and with the names of participating friends and relatives.

The participants and those members of their schools and dojos who accompanied them did not sit in the stands, however. Instead, they sat _seiza_ -style on the floor below, along the sidelines, watching on the same level as their fellows clashed in a show of competitive skill. Schools and dojos each had their own designated seating areas, organized based on their place of origin, with the schools and dojos from the same city seated next to each other.

This was Sakura's first tournament. Not just participating in, but watching in person as well, having previously been kept from coming due to her age. More than that, this would be the first time her prospective promotion – from 4th- _kyuu_ to 3rd- _kyuu_ to be specific – would be based on more than just her performance in the dojo, against people she knew in person and trained with on a regular basis, but against people she would only know of in name beforehand and who trained in other dojos and schools.

She'd practiced hard for this day, and for the day that followed, the tournament to be held over a two-day period. The first day would be solely for elimination rounds, and the second day the semi-finals and finals. Sakura was prepared to lose if her skill was insufficient on the semi or the final rounds, but she'd be damned if she was going to be eliminated in the elimination rounds.

And she would do so purely on skill alone. Despite the temptation, she would _not_ – and never would (at least in competitions like this or in practice rounds) – use her magecraft to gain an unfair advantage.

Once, twice, three times her and her opponent's _shinai_ clashed loudly with the sound of bamboo striking bamboo, and then they both stepped back, catching their breath and sizing up each other once more from behind their protective visors. And then retaking their stances, Sakura Matou and Ichizou Morita leapt against each other.

One common misconception born of popular fiction – anime and manga in particular – was that close combat whether with weapons or bare hands was a long and drawn-out affair, with plenty of dramatic moments. In truth, fights barely lasted a few minutes, if even that, more often than decided with a single, well-placed blow.

Ichizou sought to strike Sakura from above. Sakura, seeing it coming, pushed through, stabbing her _shinai_ forward, towards her opponent's chest, and striking a hit even as he was striking down.

The referee called the round, and the audience applauded as the judges awarded her a point. Sakura and Ichizou stepped back, again catching their breath while sizing each other up. And then again, they took their stances.

The referee shouted the signal, and they both leapt forward. Once, twice, three times their _shinai_ clashed before they broke away from each other, and then again, they clashed, struggling to push each other back, before disengaging once more. And then they charged forward, _shinai_ clashing until Sakura deftly feinted before striking at her opponent's elbow.

The _shinai_ struck, and the referee called the round, the audience applauding as the judges awarded her a point and called the match in her favor. Sakura and Ichizou stepped back from each other, and raising their visors, the ten-year old girl and the eleven-year old boy gave each other a respectful bow.

"Well done, Sakura." Takeda Onoue, her dojo master said with a nod, as she returned to their seating area.

"Thank you, master."

The man nodded for Sakura to sit down, and she did, resting to husband her strength for her next match. The morning matches for the junior category proceeded, Sakura getting a surprising pass through the second set of matches, as the random selection of matchups ran into the issue of an odd number of participants.

The morning matches then proceeded onto the senior category…

…and then Sakura was leaning forward, as a certain Taiga Fujimura from a dojo on the far side of the city began her match. Something wasn't quite right here…

" _No way,_ " Sakura thought in disbelief as she activated her mystic eyes, and _saw_. " _That shinai of hers…it's…enchanted? Cursed…? Seriously…? That's just…_ "

Gently shaking her head at the thought of what seemed like a case of a spell-caster using their magecraft to cheat, Sakura resolved to set things right come lunch break.

* * *

" _What the…_ " Sakura thought to herself in disbelief.

Apparently, Taiga Fujimura wasn't a spell-caster, much less a magus. Magi could sense each other, after all, especially at close proximity. And this close to her…well, Taiga didn't have an ounce of magical potential to her, at all.

Nor was she even a stranger, in fact.

"This is my big sister, Taiga Fujimura." Shirou introduced Taiga to Rin and her family, both immediate and extended.

Aoi and Kariya bowed and returned the introduction, followed by Rin, who then nudged Sakura. "Oh…um, sorry…I'm Sakura Matou." She said with a bow. "Nice to meet you, _sempai_."

Taiga grinned at her. "Nice to meet you too." She said. "Nice show earlier, by the way."

"Thank you." Sakura said with a smile. "Though it was only one match, and I didn't get a chance in the second set."

"Hmm…true…I'm guessing you'd rather earn your way into the third set than get a pass, huh?"

"…is it wrong?"

"No, I completely agree." Taiga said. "No point in getting something if you don't work for it. It's not something to be valued otherwise."

Everyone else nodded, and then Aoi checked her wristwatch. "Well," she said with a diffident cough. "If we're all going to have lunch together, then we should get going. We wouldn't want to get late, would we?"

A chorus of agreement came up, and the Matou, Tohsaka, Emiya, and Fujimura families began to walk off to have lunch together. As they did so, however, Sakura eyed Taiga, Shirou, and Kiritsugu.

" _Miss Fujimura clearly isn't a magus or even a spell-caster._ " She thought. " _She could be masking her signature, but it doesn't seem like it. She might probably have just gotten a cursed weapon by chance…though I wonder why the curse isn't affecting her. Shirou Emiya and his father though…_ "

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Shirou, slowly falling back through the press of their families until she was in a position to open her eyes without getting noticed. " _Shirou Emiya has magical potential,_ " she thought. " _But it's weak. And it doesn't look like it's even being tapped. His father though…_ "

Sakura shuddered at the sight. With her mystic eyes active, Kiritsugu's features were barely visible, so wound up was he with the lines and points of death. " _That man…_ " she thought. " _He doesn't have much long left to live from the look of things. And this feeling…what is it?_ "

Again drifting through the press of their families, Sakura faked stumbling to get Kiritsugu to catch her…and in the process let her touch the bare skin on his hands. "Careful now," Kiritsugu said. "You wouldn't want to get injured and drop out of the tournament, would you?"

Sakura shook her head, but barely masking her shock at what she could sense. " _What is this?_ " she thought. " _This…curse…monstrous. Just…monstrous…no wonder death's wound so tightly around this man. It's all but literally eating him away. Where the hell could he have gotten it from? And who would even use such a thing?_ "

Sakura suppressed a shudder, and looked at the hand Kiritsugu had gotten hold of to keep her from falling. It didn't seem like it had passed onto her, which was a relief, and while it was somewhat uncharitable to think it might have…

…given how nasty the curse was, it was only prudent to check otherwise.

Sakura glanced to where Rin and Shirou were happily chatting with each other, and then at Kiritsugu, who was silently regarding them both with a small smile on his face. " _Happy at his son having found a new friend, I guess._ " Sakura thought. " _I don't sense any magical potential from him…but this curse…I don't see how a mundane man could have been cursed with something so…evil. Did he accidentally cross paths with a magus or spell-caster with a particularly nasty disposition, and got cursed for some reason or another? If so, why not just kill him? Why put so much effort into ruining this man?_ "

Sakura narrowed her eyes and then glanced back to Rin and Shirou, and then back to Kiritsugu. " _There's more to this than meets the eye._ " She thought to herself. " _This man…Kiritsugu Emiya…is he really just an ordinary person who got cursed by accident? Or…maybe he…if he was a magus or a spell-caster…then the curse would have consumed his circuits first…breaking down his resistance and letting it go fully into effect…_ "

Sakura took a deep breath, and looked up at the sky in thought. " _This is not how I expected the day to go._ " She thought with a tinge of exasperation.

* * *

Kiritsugu gave a sigh of relief as he relieved himself in the men's comfort room at the diner they were having lunch at, and after several moments fixed his clothes before heading to the sink to wash up. The Matou and the Tohsaka were surprisingly easy to get along with, though that was probably only because they were unaware of his presence or identity.

 _Had Tokiomi Tohsaka lived and was present here and now, I doubt this day or the past few ones would have gone so well._

 _Matou though…_

 _…well, I'd heard they were dying out for a while now. Arch-Magus Zouken was supposed to have died prior to the war, so maybe…with his death…they lost their magic completely? If so, then it might have been for the best, they certainly seem much more agreeable than they would probably be as magi._

Drying his hands with an electric dryer, Kiritsugu ran a hand through his hair while leaving the men's room…

…and did a double-take as he spotted Sakura Matou leaning against the opposite wall, clearly waiting for him. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Sakura pressed a hand against the wall, and Kiritsugu gasped as he sensed – barely – a bounded field falling into place around them. "So you _are_ a magus." Sakura said. "Or a spell-caster at least. Or you used to be…Mister Emiya, what happened to you?"

Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes at Sakura. "What's it to you?" he asked.

"For one thing, that's a very nasty curse you're under." Sakura said. "So much so that you won't be around for much longer, and from the look of things, the way it works…I worry on who or _what_ could have placed it on you."

"…is that all?"

"I don't have to be an enemy, Mister Emiya." Sakura said. "I just want to look out for my sister. And she's becoming a fast friend of your son. I just want to make sure that you don't have anything…bad, in mind for her through your son. And that curse of yours won't be passed around."

"Interesting," Kiritsugu said. "You say you want to look out for your sister, and suspect that I might be up to something. If so, then do you really think confronting me like this is wise?"

"I'm not nearly as helpless as I look, Mister Emiya." Sakura said, her eyes beginning to glow and causing Kiritsugu's face to harden as a threat and a warning. It was a bluff, really, the curse having atrophied his magic circuits so badly that even a barely-trained, ten-year old magus could probably take him down.

 _So the Matou haven't died out yet. Damn…talk about a miscalculation…_

"And you can't use magic anymore, can you, Mister Emiya?" Sakura asked. "That curse…the first thing it took from you was your ability to perform magecraft, wasn't it? Break down your magic resistance, and then go into full effect afterwards."

"…are you really sure making an assumption like that?" Kiritsugu challenged.

Sakura sighed, and deactivated her eyes. Stepping forward, she raised her hands in a non-challenging fashion, and stepped within arm's reach of Kiritsugu. "I am at your mercy." She said. "As I said, I don't have to be an enemy, Mister Emiya. I just want to look out for my sister, that's all."

Kiritsugu stared into the icy eyes of the Matou heiress for several long moments, and then sighing himself, dropped his bluff. "You should consider yourself lucky." He said. "In my prime, even if you were genuine as you seem to be, I'd have killed you as a potential threat without regret."

"But…?"

"Things change." Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "Times change. As people grow older, they find that the things they did proudly and so sure of in their righteousness when they were young, only become regrets to weigh them down as they wait for death to come for them."

"…Mister Emiya…"

Kiritsugu met Sakura's eyes again. "I used to be a spell-caster." He said. "And I got badly burned for it. Shirou…my son…he wants to be a magus. If that's what he wants, then it's not my place to stop him."

Sakura blinked, and looked down as she remembered her own father's words years ago.

 _I won't tell you not to become a magus. I won't tell you live up to your uncle's – one or the other – expectations. Because what you want from life, what you want to become in life, who you will be, has to be decided by your own choices. Be who and what you want to be, alright?_

"I can only give him perspective." Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "So he has the option of choosing to step away from that path, before he gets burned like I did. Though even if he doesn't…his potential isn't much. He'd be an average magus at best, leaning towards the lower end."

"…that's a bit pessimistic, about your son's future as a magus." Sakura murmured.

"It's the truth." Kiritsugu said. "It's probably why your sister hasn't noticed he could be one of you, no, already is, considering he practices whatever he can whenever he can. You though…impressive sensitivity."

Sakura gave a small smile while stepping back. "As I said," she said. "I'm not nearly as helpless as I look, Mister Emiya."

"Maybe," Kiritsugu said. "Though you shouldn't be so careless either, Miss Matou. The magi I've encountered, fought against, and even put down…you wouldn't last a minute against them."

"…point."

Kiritsugu smiled, and reaching forward, patted her on a shoulder. "I can tell though," he said. "That you genuinely care about your sister. I have my suspicions about what she claims to be…complicated, circumstances around you two, but regardless…you should take care of the simple, purely familial relationship between you two. Most magi pile up artificialities of all kinds on their bonds, taking away any real meaning to them. The two of you though…"

"…I don't intend to lose my sister, whether in form or essence." Sakura said with cold and unyielding resolve, and Kiritsugu smiled wider and nodded.

"Good for you." He said. "Back to Shirou though…no, I don't have any plans in motion through him against your sister. They just met by accident, and became good friends over it. It helped a lot that your sister has a good heart."

"That she does." Sakura said with a smile, her expression finally softening. "Thank you…for not making me do something to end their friendship. My sister…let's just say she doesn't make friends easily. For one reason or another."

"I see." Kiritsugu said, but did not ask for further elaboration.

"Just one more thing, then."

"Yes, the curse on me."

Kiritsugu wondered if he should tell her about what he had faced at the end of the war, of the abomination that was hidden beneath Mount Enzo, that being of pure, absolute evil that had taken root in and had hollowed out the Grail for itself. After a moment though, he decided against it. He had no real proof, no way to link the curse eating away at his body to the Grail.

And in the worst-case, might even lead the Matou and the Tohsaka to start poking around the Grail. Children…poking around the Grail…what a disaster that could be…if they awoke the… _thing_ , in the Grail's heart and it lashed out at them. No…he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let children be put at risk like that. Especially when the Matou and the Tohsaka had vested interests in the Grail, given it was their ancestors which had built it.

He had failed his own child already. He would not fail others now.

And in any case, he had already put in place countermeasures to prevent it from awakening ever again in the future. Within a couple of decades or so, those countermeasures would cut the Grail off from the land's ley-lines, and starve it and the thing within it to death.

No need for others to know about that thing. Better to just let it die, rot away, and be forgotten.

"Let's just say that I had an encounter during the war that went very poorly." Kiritsugu said. "I won, and put it down. The price though…"

Kiritsugu spread his arms, gesturing at himself. "It was a very pyrrhic victory." He said.

Sakura closed her eyes and nodded. "I see." She said.

 _Looks like it was a really good idea to sit the last war out, dad._

Sakura took a deep breath, and opened her eyes to regard Kiritsugu sadly. "There's no avoiding your death, Mister Emiya." She said. "If we'd met sooner…known each other sooner… _I_ might have been able to help you. Now though…I doubt I have the time to sever the curse's threads. It's just wound too tightly around you."

"There is never avoiding death." Kiritsugu said with a sigh. "Trying to just causes you to lose everything you ever cherished. I learned that the hard way."

Sakura looked curious, but Kiritsugu didn't elaborate.

 _Shirley…Natalia…Maiya…Iri…_

Sakura nodded slowly. "Death comes for all things." She said softly but clearly, without any hint of doubt. "Nothing can escape it. Not gods, not men, not magi, not even magic."

Kiritsugu looked at her sharply, staring into those bright and resolute eyes of blue. "I was under the impression 'absorption' was the core concept behind Matou magecraft." He remarked.

Sakura smiled, but did not answer. "If I can give you a piece of advice," Kiritsugu continued. "Then it would be not to value death."

"Maybe, maybe not." Sakura said with a sigh and a smile. "But while death is an end, it is not _the_ end."

Kiritsugu raised an eyebrow at that, but Sakura said nothing more. At least not on that subject.

"Just one more thing," she said instead. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Oh?"

"Miss Fujimura's _shinai_ …it's cursed." Sakura said. "It doesn't seem particularly dangerous, but still, it's a curse. The sheer potential trouble that could result from an ordinary Human possessing and using a cursed weapon aside, there's the fact that using it in a competitive setting is rather inappropriate, isn't it?"

"…Taiga's _shinai_ …it's cursed…"

"Yes."

Kiritsugu sighed, and scratched his head. "Somehow I am not surprised." He said. "Alright, what did you have in mind?"

Sakura grinned, and released the bounded field.

* * *

"Taiga," Kiritsugu began, knocking on the locker room where participants were preparing for the next set of matches. Only Taiga was inside at the moment, putting on her armor. "Can I have a word?"

"Sure, what's it about?" Taiga asked, moving closer.

Kiritsugu gestured with his head for them to talk outside the locker room, not entirely inappropriately. It _was_ a women's locker room. And while he kept her distracted, Sakura stepped around the corner behind them, and casually walked towards the locker room.

One strange yet all too true fact of life was that when one expended the effort to sneak past or on someone, they tended to notice you all too easily. But when one just walked normally past or on approach, people tended _not_ to notice.

This meant that while Taiga and Kiritsugu were discussing some issues that may need to be brought up before the former's grandfather, Sakura walked into the locker room unnoticed, and after a moment of searching, found the cursed _shinai_. Sakura approached, mystic eyes active, and knelt down before the weapon.

Fingers hung just above the weapon as Sakura traced the lines, finding which ones belonged to the _shinai_ itself and the ones which belonged to the curse. An inaudible snarl filled the air, almost like a tiger's in fact, but Sakura ignored it.

She'd faced much worse, and come out on top, if only barely.

Finally, she found what she was looking for, and pointing her right index finger, stabbed a point. An inaudible roar filled the air, the curse fighting back, but while Sakura's right hand shook and felt as though electric current was passing through it, she didn't relent.

In the end, it was over in an instant. The inaudible roar turned into a pathetic whimper that vanished as the curse shattered, small amounts of prana scattering into the air. Massaging her hand, Sakura got up and left, walking out the door and to where Kiritsugu and Taiga were still talking.

Kiritsugu's eyes shifted towards Sakura over Taiga's shoulder, the latter turning to follow his gaze. "Oh hello, Sakura." She said. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Eh," Sakura said, injecting annoyance into her voice. "Got lost on the way back from the women's room. You wouldn't know how to get back to the main floor, would you?"

"Oh that's easy." Taiga said, before quickly giving instructions. Sakura nodded in understanding, and given quick thanks, hurried off.

* * *

Sakura winced as she watched Taiga utterly demolish her opponent during her match. Even without the curse empowering her _shinai_ , she was simply that good. The opponent didn't even have the chance to parry, she just blitzed him head-on and smashed him on the head with a two-handed blow.

Not once, but twice.

The audience went wild, and after exchanging bows with her defeated opponent, Taiga waved to her fans. Clearly, she was something of a celebrity in the _kendo_ circles, and Sakura made a note to herself to look into Taiga's background. There might be something to learn there.

On another note…

" _Well,_ " she thought to herself. " _That explains why Miss Fujimura could use that cursed shinai. From the sound and feel of things, the curse would have magnified the wrath of any prospective user, and without enough willpower it would simply have overwhelmed them. Miss Fujimura though…she's got quite the spirit, more powerful than the curse's own power, it would seem. Enough she could ignore it, or bent it to her will. Very impressive, especially when she otherwise has no ability to touch the supernatural._ "

Sakura smiled, her respect for Taiga Fujimura growing, not just the customary respect for those older than her, or to her seniors in the art, but also as a person.

The rest of the matches for the senior category passed by quickly, and then after a twenty-minute break, the junior category's third and final set of elimination matches began. There were three matches before Sakura's match began, and bowing once to her opponent, closed her visor before grabbing onto her _shinai_ with two hands.

The referee signaled the start, and Sakura leapt forward. The opponent parried her two-handed blow, riposted, and then fell back. Sakura fell back as well, regaining her breath and reassessing her enemy. The opponent did likewise, and then falling back into their starting stances, charged at each other after a moment.

Once, twice, they crossed blades, and then Sakura's _shinai_ struck her opponent's torso even as the opponent's _shinai_ struck her shoulder. The referee sounded the round's end, and the judges awarded both of them with points.

Sakura nodded in respect at her opponent, the boy nodding back, and they returned to starting positions. The referee signaled the round's beginning, and they charged.

 _Shinai_ struck against each other several times, and then Sakura scored her win with a blow against her opponent's arm. The referee signaled the round and the match's end, and opening her visor Sakura nodded at her opponent. The boy did likewise as they both returned to their starting positions, and bowed at each other before returning to their fellows.

" _Well, that's that._ " Sakura thought as her fellows clustered around her and showered her with congratulations. " _Next up…semis. Right, let's do this._ "

* * *

A/N

Kendo has two sets of ranks, junior ( _kyuu_ ) and senior ( _dan_ ). The former has six levels, with six as the lowest and one as the highest. The latter has ten levels, with one as the lowest, and ten as the highest. In practice though, most people can only reach 8th- _dan_ , with 9th- _dan_ and 10th- _dan_ honorary positions. Taiga's rank at this time is…I don't really know, though around the time of FSN, IIRC her rank was 3rd- _dan_. I could be wrong though…but I do know she was of the senior rank.

What that means though, is that even after Sakura broke _tora-shinai_ 's curse, Taiga's skill is such that it doesn't really affect her performance. She's just that _good_.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 7

"…and for first runner-up," the announcer said on the stage. "Matou Sakura, 4th- _kyuu_ from the…"

The applause applauded as the announcer called out Sakura's name, followed by her rank and the school she belonged to, while Sakura and Kariya made their way onto the stage. The head judge handed her the certification for her win, Sakura taking it with a bow. The head judge then turned to Kariya, the two older men bowing to each other before the three of them turned to face the audience, and the cameras, with smiles on their faces.

And then Sakura and Kariya were leaving the stage, the announcer already beginning to announce the tournament's winner, or more specifically, the winner for the junior category. "Oh, cheer up Sakura." Rin immediately said as Sakura and Kariya approached. "There's always next year. And at least you got the first runner-up spot."

Sakura looked at her older sister with a mix of surprise and confusion. "Huh?" she asked. "Why would I need to cheer up? I'm perfectly fine with this outcome."

"…really?"

Sakura smiled and shrugged. "I'm only ten." She said. "I'm good, but I'm not _that_ good. Besides, this is my first tournament. I need more experience. Not training though: I get enough of that. And more to the point, as long as I don't get eliminated in the elimination rounds, it's fine."

Rin blinked, and then smiling, nodded. "I see." She said. "That's a good attitude to have."

Sakura smiled and nodded back. "So what now?" Rin asked her mother, who was standing nearby.

"Now," Aoi said, moving behind Rin and placing her hands on Rin's shoulders. "We will be patient, and wait until the closing ceremony is done. And then we'll go out for lunch together."

Aoi then glanced at Kariya. "You did make the reservation, right?" she asked.

"Of course I did." Kariya said before checking his wristwatch. "Let's see…we still have an hour more or less, before we need to be at the restaurant."

"What kind of restaurant is it?" Sakura asked.

"Seafood restaurant," Kariya said with a shrug, and then grinned. " _Fresh_ seafood."

Rin, Sakura, and Shirou blinked. And then their eyes widened in realization. "You mean…" Sakura began. "Tuna belly?"

"Sea urchin?" Rin asked.

"…what they said?" Shirou followed up.

Kariya snickered as Aoi laughed. "All those and more." He answered.

The three children didn't say anything, just all but openly salivating at the thought of what lunch would be. Kiritsugu, who was sitting nearby, just shook his head. "Kids these days," he said. "Then again, maybe I'm just biased. I did grow up on a tropical island, so fresh fish isn't all that novel to me."

"Wait, what?" Kariya asked, looking and sounding surprised. "Tropical island? Seriously?"

Kiritsugu shrugged and nodded. "Yes," he said. "It was a very long time ago. It was…a mixed time."

The last words were spoken with a bittersweet tone, and Kariya and Aoi shared a concerned glance, but Kiritsugu did not elaborate. "Anyway," Aoi eventually said with a cough. "Settle down children, and take your seats. The closing ceremony is still in the middle, so remember your manners."

"Yes!" the children chorused, and scrambled for their seats as Rin and Sakura's parents followed behind.

* * *

The waiter bowed as he left with the gathering's orders, and closed the sliding doors leading into the reserved booth behind him. "Five orders?" Kariya echoed.

Kiritsugu gestured in Taiga's direction. "You haven't seen how much of a big eater Taiga is." He said with a mocking smile her way.

Taiga scoffed and looked away with faux offense. "I won the tournament handily, and without taking any hits from anyone." She said. "I think I deserve to be pampered, at least for today."

"Even without winning any tournament," Kiritsugu added with a good-natured smile. "You get pampered every time you come over to eat. Have some mercy on Shirou, would you? He's the only one who knows how to cook in my house, and with your appetite…"

"Dad…!" Shirou protested as Kiritsugu trailed off. "I told you, it's fine. And besides, Fuji-nee is a guest whenever she visits. We have to make her comfortable. And it's not like we can't afford it, or she's getting fat from it all."

"Oh, now that's a good boy!" Taiga said, gleefully grabbing Shirou beside her and giving him a tight hug. "You should listen to your boy, Kiritsugu. He certainly knows better than to talk bad about his guests, unlike his father."

Kiritsugu just smiled and shook his head. Rin though, looked at Shirou in surprise. "You know how to cook?" she asked.

"Yes…don't you?"

"Not…really…"

"Hmm," Aoi hummed in some concern. "That's not a good thing, in hindsight. We'll have to fix that before it becomes a problem."

Rin couldn't say anything to that, not when it was her own mother talking, while Shirou looked at Sakura. "How about you?" he asked. "Do you know how to cook?"

"Eh…" Sakura began, fidgeting as she hesitated to answer. "Not…really…either…"

Aoi gave her daughters disappointed looks. "Yes," she said. "We'll all have to find the time to fix that."

"Mom…"

"But mom…"

"No buts." Aoi interrupted. "I know we all have household staff at our homes, but you should still know how to keep house regardless. At the very least, you should be able to know whether or not your staff are doing their jobs right."

Shirou looked curious. "You have maids at your houses?" he asked.

"Yes." Sakura answered.

"We do." Rin agreed with a nod.

"And they do everything for you?"

"Most of it." Sakura said. "Dad says I should keep my own room clean, which I do. And I should also be the one to pick up my own things after me."

"And do you listen to your father?" Aoi asked sternly.

"Yes."

Aoi beamed and patted her younger daughter on the head, Sakura preening at the praise. "Nicely done, Kariya." She said.

Kariya shrugged. "We're rich," he said. "But that doesn't mean Sakura has to be spoiled. As you say, she should be able to keep house. And cleaning up after herself, and keeping her personal space, is a good start. In hindsight though, yeah, more should have been done."

"Well, don't you worry." Aoi said, continuing to pat Sakura on the head. " _That_ requires a mother's touch, and guess what? I think I have too much time on my hands, and Rin spends too much time with Father Kotomine anyway."

"Well, if it means getting away from that guy..." Rin murmured.

Aoi sighed. "I know he's a bit off-putting," she said. "And he likes to give too many uncalled for comments and…suggestions, but he _was_ your father's apprentice. He's the only one who can really teach you how to…well, do things."

"I don't like that man either." Sakura added, her expression cold. "He's…creepy."

"…you too, Sakura?" Aoi asked.

"She's not wrong." Rin murmured. "Kirei's just plain creepy."

"Alright, that's enough of that." Aoi said firmly. "Regardless of what you might think of the man, now is neither the time or place for this discussion. Here and now, we're here to celebrate Sakura and Taiga's performance in the tournament. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Yes, mom."

"Good," Aoi said with a nod. "We'll discuss this some more later."

Any further conversation stilled for a few moments as the waiter returned with green tea and two orders of sea urchin. "Wow, sea urchin!" Rin gushed as she took her chopsticks and used it to dissolve some _wasabi_ paste in her soy sauce. "I rarely get to eat this."

She dabbed one in her sauce, and then lifted it to her mouth to eat. "Delicious!" she gushed.

"Well," Kiritsugu chimed in. "It's not something to be eaten regularly. For one thing, it's expensive, and for another thing eating too much of it will kill you. On special occasions though…"

Kiritsugu trailed off as he placed some sea urchin in his mouth, chewed and swallowed, washing it all down with green tea. "As you say, little girl." He said with a small smile. "Delicious."

Conversation returned casually as the gathering enjoyed their expensive appetizer, and then the main course arrived. Fresh tuna belly served with white rice, along with more seafood like lobster, shrimp, crab and salmon among others.

Kiritsugu stared as Taiga and Shirou sat next to each other, eerily in sync as they cracked open crab shells to get at the white meat inside. On the other side of the table, the same went for Rin and Sakura, the two girls moving in sync as they feasted on shrimp and tuna belly.

No words were said as he looked at Aoi and Kariya, the three parents shrugging at what they were seeing. What could they do?

 _Children_

* * *

"Oh, I'm stuffed!" Sakura said as she stretched her limbs while leaving the restaurant. Before leaving the civic center she'd changed from her black and white kimono into a plain violet dress, with a white collar and cuffs, and matching edging on her skirt. Bones could be heard cracking as she flexed her fingers, and it wasn't long before Rin was joining in.

"You two really are sisters." Shirou observed in awe. "You act and look the same way."

"Duh."

"No shit."

"Sakura, watch your language." Aoi snapped. "I _will_ wash your mouth out with soap if I hear more dirty language coming from you."

"Sorry mom."

Rin snickered and Sakura stuck out her tongue at her in response. "I'm not surprised you're both full, though." Kariya observed. "The two of your practically ate half the shrimp between you, along with probably two whole orders' worth of tuna belly."

"Did not!" the girls chorused in protest.

"Agreed," Kiritsugu chimed in, before grinning. "But you came close."

The girls protested as Kiritsugu and Kariya shared a laugh, Aoi smiling with amusement as Taiga began to tease a weakly-protesting Shirou. "Anyway," Kiritsugu said after glancing at his wristwatch. "We'll have to get going now. I have some things I need to discuss with Taiga's grandfather, but I'll have to pass by my house first. We'll see each other some other time."

"Okay, see you then." Kariya said, shaking Kiritsugu's hand.

Kiritsugu nodded, and bowed respectfully at Aoi before turning to leave accompanied by Taiga and Shirou. "Bye, Rin and Sakura." Shirou said with a wave. "Goodbye, Mister Matou and Missus Tohsaka."

The Matou and the Tohsaka waved their goodbyes, and then turned to each other. "So," Kariya began. "Now what?"

"I guess we should go home now." Aoi said.

Kariya nodded. "Then I'll go call our car." He said.

"And I'll call ours."

"I'll be coming over later, Sakura." Rin said, as their parents busied themselves with their phones. "It's your turn today to be the hostess."

"Oh yeah…" Sakura said while scratching her head. "Alright then, I'll be expecting you later."

Rin nodded, and then they waited quietly until their respective cars came. "Bye Sakura," Rin said. "See you later."

"See you later too, big sis."

With those words they parted…

…or not, considering they lived in the same neighborhood. Both cars proceeded along the same route, in the same general direction, only turning away once they reached the neighborhood. And even then, they weren't all that far from each other.

* * *

Byakuya returned from his business trip to America a few days later, and quickly took stock of the situation. "Kiritsugu Emiya…?" Byakuya echoed. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Kariya blinked as Byakuya began to rummage through a number of files kept on one of the shelves in the Matou library, before opening a drawer and pulling out a box full of more files. He dug through them for several minutes, and pulled out what he was looking for.

"Got it…Kiritsugu…Emiya…" Byakuya said in triumph. "Let's see…fifth-generation…holy shit, this guy's an assassin!"

"WHAT?"

Byakuya looked at him grimly. "The man's known as the Magus Killer." He said. "He made a living hunting down sealing designates, heretics, and vampires. And when he caught up to them…he succeeded not so much because he was such a brilliant magus, as much as he just tended to blow them up or shoot them to pieces."

"…a spell-caster then." Kariya said.

"A spell-caster whose MO is to blow his target up with high-explosives," Byakuya corrected. "Or to shoot them with a sniper rifle from a distance. Or to just shoot them up close and personal with automatic weapons or heavy – as in big game-killing – shotguns. At least, that's what the data says."

"Why do we even have that data, anyway?" Kariya demanded.

Byakuya checked the notes he'd made on the file several years ago. "Huh…now I remember." He said. "This was before the old worm bit the dirt. In preparation for the Holy Grail War, he had me find likely Masters and get information on them."

"He was planning on participating himself?" Kariya asked.

"No…actually from what I remember, he was expecting you to join for him."

"He what?"

"You know what he had in mind for Sakura." Byakuya said grimly. "He expected you to come, and make a deal with him. A deal you would have had no chance of fulfilling your end of, and would only see you go down in agony for his own sadistic amusement."

"…in other words," Kariya snarled. "He planned for me to bargain the Grail for Sakura's freedom…all the while never actually expecting me to succeed. That bastard…"

Snarling with hate, Kariya savagely kicked at a nearby shelf. "Sakura wiping him from reality with her eyes is too good a fate for him." He spat.

"Maybe," Byakuya said. "Though…back to the main point, Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer, is here. And from the look of things, he might be getting to you. Why he would do that…"

"Kiritsugu Emiya is no threat." Sakura firmly said, eyes turning to her as she leaned against the library doorway.

"How long have you been there?" Kariya asked.

Sakura shrugged. "Since you kicked the shelf." She said.

"I see…eavesdropping is a bad habit, you know."

"Sorry," Sakura apologized. "But I didn't do it on purpose."

Kariya grunted an acknowledgement. "What do you mean he's no threat?" Byakuya asked.

"I confronted him." Sakura said.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"It was on the first day of the tournament." Sakura said. "I was already suspicious, you see, because Miss Fujimura's _shinai_ was cursed, and when she was with the Emiyas when Rin introduced them, I was wondering if they were spell-casters or whatnot using magic to cheat."

"…what does Tohsaka have to do with this?" Byakuya demanded.

Sighing, Kariya explained how Rin had saved Shirou – Kiritsugu's son – from a bunch of bullies in a park. Said boy had apparently been trying to protect a puppy from the bullies, and both had become friends over the incident. Shirou had then introduced Rin to his father…and then by coincidence, they'd all met and gotten really friendly over the tournament.

"Okay…" Byakuya said while rubbing his eyes before turning back to Sakura. "Then what?"

Sakura shrugged. "Turns out Miss Fujimura only had the cursed _shinai_ by accident." She said. "And she's no magus or spell-caster, as she _doesn't_ have any magic potential."

"And the Magus Killer?"

Sakura paused, and then both Kariya and Byakuya narrowed their eyes as they felt a…shift, in the air. Like a breath of cold air entering a hot room, as Sakura opened her mouth to speak. It was her…and not her, all at the same time.

"I looked at him with my eyes." Sakura said. "And…death, was all over him."

"…what do you mean?" Byakuya asked.

"His whole body was so covered with the lines and points of death," Sakura answered. "With my eyes open, it was almost impossible to see what he really looked like, with death bound so densely around him. That man…I'd say he has less than a year to live, maybe one or two if he's lucky."

"And you think this somehow doesn't make him a threat?" Byakuya pressed.

Sakura shook her head. "He has no magic potential left." She said. "Death…his death…it's not natural. That man is cursed. It's eaten away his magic circuits, and it's eating away his body as well. As I said, he's dying."

Sakura paused, and shuddered. Byakuya and Kariya blinked as the Sakura they knew returned, her alter ego returning to its sleep, on the other side of the mirror. "It's a terrible curse." Sakura said. "Very terrible…I don't know what kind of person would make such a curse, much less even use it. Because as you know, curses…"

"…redound on their caster, be it sooner or later." Byakuya said softly and with a nod.

Sakura nodded. "He also told me," she continued. "That whoever used that curse on him, was someone he faced during the war. He came out on top, but it was a pyrrhic victory in the end. It's obvious why."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Byakuya sighed. "Alright," he said. "I'll believe you…now. I'm starting to think those eyes of yours let you do too much, but I suppose that's to be expected, given they are Jewel-ranked. And given you know how dangerous things can get and have no reason to be lax in that regard, I'll trust in your judgment."

Sakura nodded, but then Byakuya tilted his head. "That said," he said. "You should be more careful in the future. Things might have worked out _now_ , but what if they hadn't? What if the Magus Killer had been in his prime, and had been planning on something against us? It could have turned real bad, real quick."

Sakura blinked, and then lowered her head in understanding. "I understand." She said. "And I'm sorry."

"So long as you understand." Byakuya said.

"So, now what?" Kariya asked.

"It sounds like the Magus Killer's decided to retire and enjoy what few years he has left with his son." Byakuya said. "I'll look into it to be sure, and if it is as Sakura says, then there's no reason for us to make trouble for the man."

"Should we inform Rin or her mother?" Kariya asked.

"…I'll think about it." Byakuya said. "Courtesy-wise we should, but given the situation…"

Byakuya sighed. "If he's really just after some peace in his remaining years," he said. "We should just leave him be."

Kariya glanced at Sakura. "I didn't sense anything from Shirou," he began. "Did you?"

"A little," she admitted. "Mister Emiya also said that he practices whatever he can whenever he can. That said, Mister Emiya also said that Shirou is only average, and towards the low end."

"Probably why you didn't sense him, then." Byakuya observed.

"Yeah, that's probably it." Kariya said.

"The boy is friends with Rin, though." Byakuya thoughtfully said. "Hmm…alright, courtesy-wise we have to tell the Tohsaka, but we don't really want to disturb a dying man's last moments of rest either. If so, Sakura, since you're the one who dove head-first into this situation, you offer a compromise to Emiya."

"Huh?"

"He might not know there's a Second Owner for Fuyuki," Byakuya conceded. "But even so, and either way, he has to introduce himself. As a compromise, have him introduce himself through his son. Their friendship should soften things up."

"Or destroy it." Sakura pointed out. "Alternatively, we can take responsibility for them. Or rather, Shirou Emiya."

"…we could do that." Byakuya reluctantly conceded. "Or you can, for the Emiya boy."

"The intermediary between him and your sister?" Kariya murmured. "Hmm…I wonder if we're overthinking this, or the opposite. No, I think it's the latter, and we're being too hasty. I suggest we wait and see, learn some more before making any major decisions with regard to the Emiya. As long as they're not a threat, that is."

"…more information to work with would be good." Byakuya admitted.

"I think so too." Sakura said.

Byakuya sighed and nodded. "Alright," he said. "We'll wait and see for now. Though I'm still looking some more into his circumstances, just in case."

"Go ahead." Kariya said. "We do need more information, after all."

Byakuya grunted but said nothing. "Also," Kariya said. "You should look some more into the Masters during the last war. From the sound of things, Kiritsugu Emiya might have killed whoever cursed him but if not…"

"…yeah, we should take a look, just in case there's any reason for us to be concerned." Byakuya conceded. "If someone willing to use something so…terrible, that Sakura is shaken by it, comes back to finish the job and possibly gets ideas afterwards…we'll have to make preparations, just in case. And to do that, we need to learn more."

There were nods all around, and then Byakuya put down his files with a sigh. "But first," he said. "I think I shall have some rest first. I just came home too."

Kariya smiled and shrugged. "Fair enough," he said. "Speaking of sons though…when's Shinji coming back?"

"Who's Shinji?" Sakura asked.

"Your cousin." Kariya said.

"My son." Byakuya said at the same time. "He's studying in a boarding school abroad right now. I was planning – well, Zouken more like ordered me to – to call him back here after the war's end, but with the old worm dead, I just kept him there to keep him out of trouble."

"Out of trouble?" Kariya asked with a raised eyebrow.

Byakuya grimaced. "He…uh, never stopped thinking he could be a magus while he was here." He said. "Studied up the theory, and was very good at it. Only problem is…he couldn't do anything at all."

"…so my cousin has no magic circuits?" Sakura asked.

"No, he has them." Byakuya said sourly. "Only they're duds."

Sakura's eyebrows rose high on her face. "Is that even possible?" she asked.

Byakuya's face turned really sour. "Yes." He said. "It's possible. Very much so…and it caused a lot of trouble. Don't ask."

Sakura fell silent, but Kariya looked concerned. "So…back to Shinji," he delicately said. "Does he even know he can't perform magic?"

"Kind of…" Byakuya hesitantly said. "I…couldn't go into the details at the time, as he was just a child and couldn't really understand it…but I told him that. He…um, didn't seem to believe it though. And given my situation at the time…"

Byakuya trailed off, while Kariya looked unhappy. "Oh now that's just great." He said sarcastically. "When he comes back expecting and having believed all his life – so far – that he would inherit the Matou magecraft only to get reality thrown in his face…do you even know how he most likely would react?"

"Yes, I know!" Byakuya snarled. "But what can we do?"

"Well, what have you planned so far?"

"…I was going to call him back after he finished elementary school. Hopefully by then he'll have matured a bit. Enough to cope."

"He's a teenager…or will be one by then." Kariya said. "Mature? Really? He's not going to take it well at all…much less the fact that Sakura's essentially his replacement."

"I didn't want to be his replacement." Sakura softly grumbled. "Though…I like daddy replacing…Tokiomi Tohsaka in that role."

"…thanks." Kariya said, unsure about what to really feel about that. "Back to the point though…"

"Look," Byakuya interrupted. "Shinji doesn't have to know Sakura's adopted, and if he thinks she's his blood cousin…maybe he might take it easier…"

"It'll come out sooner or later, Byakuya." Kariya pointed out. "And it's not like me and Sakura look alike."

"She takes after her mother."

"…point." Kariya conceded. "But when – not if – the truth comes out, and he realizes that a) she's not of Matou blood at all, and b) we've tricked him, do you really think he's going to take it well? He's not only been replaced as heir, but been made a fool of."

"So you suggest we just tell it to him all at once when comes back?"

Kariya looked silent and unhappy as he thought it over and irritably scratched his head. "Best to be honest about it, and make him accept it without adding insult to injury by seemingly making a fool out of him." He said. "Think of it like getting an injection. It's painful, and it's unwanted, and thus best done with quickly so as to move on as soon as possible."

"You are a very optimistic man, brother."

Kariya responded by stepping behind Sakura, and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Yes," he said with a smile. "Yes, yes I am. And it's working out for me, isn't it?"

"I suppose it does." Byakuya said sourly before giving a sly smirk. "Speaking of optimism, I hear you're seeing Aoi Tohsaka privately these days? And might sometimes be spending the night with her?"

There was an audible sound as Sakura snapped her head up to look at her father's face. "Does this mean I'll be getting a little brother or sister soon?" she asked with undisguised delight.

"BYAKUYA!"

* * *

A/N

Tokiomi's probably turning in his grave, seeing magi and spell-casters being friendly and just like ordinary people around each other, instead of proud and aloof in the Romantic vein. His children especially, still being close to each other instead of being rivals in the making, preparing for the future duel to the death to demonstrate Tohsaka power and glory as he desired.

And of course, Kariya and Aoi seeing each other (and _possibly_ even having an affair). Well, it has been four or five years since he died. Time to move on.

As Shirou Emiya once said, people die when they're killed. And as Ayaka Sajyou also said, thou raiseth not the dead/even the greatest of magic can only affect the living, i.e. once you die, there's no going back. You stay dead.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 8

 _Cicadas hummed in the shadows of the garden as a boy and his father sat on the veranda of their house. The air was warm and humid, and the night sky above clear of clouds on a summer night. Stars shone down, glittering faintly against the velvet darkness, less than there ought to be due to the city's light percolating into the air even in the suburbs, but more than there would be in the heart of the city._

 _"When I was boy," Kiritsugu began. "I wanted to become a Hero of Justice."_

 _Shirou turned to look at his father beside him, a mixed expression of curiosity and confusion on his face. "Why do you sound like you've given up?" he asked after a moment._

 _Kiritsugu smiled sadly, but didn't meet Shirou's eyes. Instead, he just silently looked down from the sky, though his eyes remained distant, lost in his memories of a different time and place. "Saving someone's life," he finally answered. "Means not saving someone else's life."_

 _Shirou continued to stare at Kiritsugu, struck by the resigned tone of his father's voice, and then smiling, looked away, back to the stars above. "I see." He said. "But, you're an adult. So it's alright if you've given up on your dreams. And I'm still a kid, so I'll make your dream come true in your place. I'll become a Hero of Justice, and save everyone."_

 _"Is that so?" Kiritsugu whispered, as his eyelids slowly slid down, and smiling ever so wider. "That's…good to hear…"_

Shirou opened his eyes with a gasp, the blurry surroundings resolving themselves into the familiar contours of his room in a matter of moments. He lay there in his _futon_ , silent and unmoving, and then blinking as his vision blurred rubbed furiously at his eyes.

It had only been a few months since his father had died, and the wounds were still fresh, still painful whenever they were brought up. It'd pass in time, that was for sure, but that time was still far off.

Grunting from the exertion, Shirou forced himself up into a sitting position, and after a few moments forced himself to stand and stretch his limbs. One glance at his clock showed that he'd woken up slightly earlier than he normally did, and while he was tempted to go back to bed for some more extra minutes of sleep, he pushed the temptation away after only a moment's thought.

He had a lot to do before heading out for the day, and even though waking up on time provided him ample time to do what needed to be done, those extra minutes to do them in today were still to be thankful for. Scratching at his side while giving a yawn, Shirou went to grab his clothes before leaving his room to freshen up, and thence prepare breakfast.

Still for two, as Taiga now visited regularly as his legal guardian…but once…whenever she visited for breakfast…he had to cook for three…

Shirou again blinked as his vision blurred, and rubbed at his eyes furiously.

" _Come on, come on…_ " he furiously thought to himself. " _Don't get too…weighed down by it…dad wouldn't us to be held back, even by his own death. He would have wanted us to keep on going, to make our dream – **his** dream – come true. So…come on…let's move on…I need to move on…_"

Grinding his teeth at the turmoil of his own thoughts, Shirou didn't bother to heat water and simply decided to take a cold shower. Hopefully, the cold water would shock his thoughts out of their depressed slump, at least for a time.

Entering the bathroom, Shirou stripped down, folding his laundry and neatly putting them in the hamper, and entered the shower cubicle. He turned the knob…

…and yelped loudly as cold water splashed down all over him.

Well…he certainly was right about that. The cold, morning water _did_ knock his thoughts out of their slump.

Even if it did mean Shirou would later come out of the shower shivering, but fully awake and just focused on getting warmed up. First with his morning exercise, and then by preparing breakfast. Then there was cleanup after that, and heading off to school.

Taiga's presence and schoolwork would also keep his mind focused elsewhere…

…or so he hoped, even as he put on a fresh set of clothes.

* * *

"You don't look so good."

Shirou waved the remark on his appearance off. "I'm fine." He said. "I just didn't have a good night's sleep, that's all. But it's nothing serious."

Shinji Matou just raised an eyebrow and said nothing. Shrugging, he passed by Shirou to head towards his desk, only to come back a few moments later after placing his things beneath his desk. "Thinking about your father?" Shinji asked.

"…yeah."

Shinji sighed, and scratched his head. "I…I'd say…" he fumbled. "He's in a better place but…yeah, I've said that before. Though you'll see him again someday…but I've already said that before too…damn it…"

This time, it was Shirou's turn to raise an eyebrow, before laughing briefly at Shinji's expense. "It's fine." He said. "You don't need to say anything. It's just that it's fresh so…yeah. It's still affecting me. Give it time."

"Yeah, I suppose that's all you can do." Shinji said while crossing his arms.

Shirou nodded in agreement, and briefly looked past Shinji at the bright if cloudy skies outside. "So," he eventually began. "How are things at home? If I remember right, you said things were rather…difficult, after spending seven years or so at boarding school."

"…difficult…" Shinji echoed before shaking his head. "I'll…get over it, eventually."

"…really?"

Shinji muttered something Shirou didn't quite get, but coughed immediately afterwards. "At the very least," he said. "My cousin and I can hold conversations now, instead of just…awkwardly, staring at each other like when I first came home. Though I still can't quite wrap my head around my Uncle Kariya's…circumstances. How Tohsaka deals with it is beyond me…"

"Well," Shirou said, scratching his head. "From what I hear it's because she and her half-sister have always known each other, and might as well have grown up together, at least after your uncle came back. They haven't known anything otherwise that would make things awkward between them, so…"

Shinji snorted, and then looked at Shirou wryly. "You're strange too, Emiya." He said.

"What?"

"No offense Emiya, but you _are_ the…proper, sort of guy." Shinji remarked, not for the first time. "And yet, here you are, having no trouble with my uncle and your childhood friend's mom basically having an affair with each other."

"…technically Rin's dad is already dead, so it's not really an affair."

"Not anymore," Shinji said with a laugh. "Considering the age gap between Tohsaka and Sakura is just one year, the affair was already ongoing when Tohsaka's father was alive."

"…okay, there is that." Shirou said with a sigh. "But, it's not like we can blame Sakura or Rin for their parents'…um, circumstances. And it's not an issue anymore, so why make it one?"

Shinji laughed again. "Proper _and_ forgiving…" he said with a shake of his head. "You really are something else, Emiya."

"Thanks, Shinji."

* * *

"So, how are we today?"

Shirou looked up from where he was eating while sitting against the concrete barrier surrounding the rooftop level, and into Rin's smiling face. "Oh hey," he said. "I'm doing fine, really."

"That's good." Rin said while sitting down and unpacking her own lunch. "I know you don't like me worrying about you, but I do. Especially after…well, you know."

"…thanks." Shirou said. "And while I don't like you worrying – or for that matter, Sakura, along with Uncle Kariya and Aunt Aoi – it does feel nice that _all_ of you care."

Rin shrugged. "You're welcome." She said, and began to eat her lunch.

The childhood friends ate in silence afterwards, not out of any sense of awkwardness on either of their parts, but simply because it was too much of a hassle to eat and talk at the same time. Eventually they finished, and Shirou extended a can of strawberry milk towards Rin, the cold metal dripping with condensation.

"Thanks." Rin said while popping the can open and taking a drink.

"No problem." Shirou said, also opening his own drink, in his case a can of iced coffee. As he took a drink Rin shuffled over, sitting next to Shirou against the concrete barrier. They enjoyed their drinks in silence, staring up at the sky, the cool and gentle breeze providing a pleasant contrast to the warmth of the Sun. The clouds which had filled up the sky earlier during the day had largely drifted away, and those that were left lazily drifted across their sight, forming vague and fluffy shapes of white against a blue backdrop.

"Going straight home later?" Rin eventually asked.

"I don't have anything planned, really." Shirou answered. "Why? You want to do something together?"

"Not really," Rin said. "I was just wondering if you could over this afternoon. It's been a while since you last visited, or my mother saw you. And you haven't seen the twins yet, have you?"

"…I think I might have the time." Shirou conceded. "And I guess I should see Aunt Aoi after all this time, if only to thank her for attending dad's funeral."

"Great!" Rin said cheerfully. "We can walk home together later then!"

"Yeah, we can." Shirou said with a laugh, before adjusting his position to lie down on the ground, looking up at the sky. "Will Sakura be coming over tonight too?"

"…hmm…I'll have to ask." Rin said before giving an unhappy sigh. "Ever since we started middle school, the three of us haven't been able to hang around as much as we used to."

"Well, that's just life…and growing up." Shirou said with a resigned sigh. "We just have to deal with it, nothing we can really do about it."

"So true."

"…well, look on the bright side." Shirou said, glancing sideways at Rin, who was still sitting with her back against the concrete barrier. "Come next year, we might be able to hang around again. Sakura's coming to this school too, isn't she?"

"…I'm…not sure…but I hope she does."

Shirou snorted, and looked back up at the sky. "She will." He said. "With how close you sisters are I don't think she'd pass up the chance to be near you."

"Yeah, I guess so." Rin said, pulling her legs close and wrapping her arms around them. She smiled a bittersweet smile that Shirou, eyes turned upwards, didn't quite catch. "And I'm really thankful for it, I really am."

* * *

Shinji was walking down the street after school, headed home when he spotted a truck parked in front of his family's property. As he approached, a man working inside the truck's container jumped out, and wheeling a pair of heavy crates approached the entrance. " _A delivery?_ " he silently asked. " _Of what? And for who?_ "

The last question was the first to be answered, as Shinji hurried over without looking like he was hurrying, and found his cousin signing off on the delivery, still dressed in her school uniform. "Cousin," Shinji greeted her.

"Cousin," Sakura greeted him back as a pair of maids wheeled the crates inside.

Shinji looked on in silence until the delivery truck had gone, and then walked alongside Sakura back into the property. "What was that?" he asked.

"The first pieces of my collection."

Shinji looked exasperated. " _Oh yeah,_ " he thought to himself. " _Now I remember…that was the 'little project' she mentioned she was working on a while back._ "

Once they were inside, Sakura hurried off upstairs, while Shinji passed by the kitchen. The maids were already at work preparing dinner, for themselves and for Shinji and Sakura – their fathers being out on their individual business – and Shinji quickly but politely waved them off as a couple of them tried to attend to him.

"I can prepare a snack for myself on my own," he said. "No need to trouble you for it."

There were bows and voices of assent, and several minutes later and Shinji was walking to his room while chewing on a sandwich. Entering his room, he quickly changed and got down to homework, planning to bury himself in schoolwork until dinnertime. The needs of nature almost immediately torpedoed that plan, and had Shinji heading off to the men's room.

As he came out of the men's room, he noticed Sakura passing by on the opposite side of the floor, and going around followed her by curiosity, to the wing of the mansion she'd appropriated and remodeled as her…personal, exhibit. Or rather, future exhibit, as it actually was.

The maids bowed as Shinji passed by, Sakura turning to look at her cousin as he approached, and regarded the twin idols of stone standing on either side of the doorway leading into her reserved wing. "Who or what are they supposed to be?" he asked.

Sakura pointed at the idol on the left, of a muscular man with a beard reaching down to his chest, wearing a skirt-like outfit down to his knees, and holding aloft a mace in his right hand, while his left hand rested on a sword sheathed at his waist. To his right rested a lion, the idol and his companion standing on a pedestal engraved with cuneiform script.

"That is Nergal," Sakura said. "God of War and Pestilence, of the Noontime Sun and the High Summer, King of the Sunset and the Underworld."

She then pointed to the idol on the right, of a woman in a sleeveless and form-fitting dress that reached down to her knees, belted at the waist. Lions lay at her feet, and the idol held out its hands, as though to give…or to beckon. And like her consort to her right, she stood on a pedestal engraved with cuneiform script.

"That is Ereshkigal," Sakura said. "The Dreaded Queen of the Dead, most feared and to some, the mightiest of the ancient Sumerian pantheon."

"…now that you mention it," Shinji observed after a moment. "You were planning to dedicate your personal…museum, to death, isn't it? I have to ask: why death?"

Sakura smiled. "I _am_ death." She said, and Shinji stared.

"What?"

Sakura smiled but did not elaborate. Instead, the twelve-year old girl stepped forward, patting both statues with equal parts awe and mockery.

"Ironic, isn't it cousin?" she asked. "To the people of ancient Sumer, these two beings would come into possession of their souls after death, and consign them to a dismal eternity in the Underworld, drinking mud and consuming dust. It did not matter how much good or evil one did in life, no matter how much glory or ignominy one accrued, or if one's name resounded in the hearts and minds of many or was simply…nobody. It didn't matter at all. Once you died, all that one could look forward to was eternal gloom and obscurity, and it was these two deities who would rule over them in the darkness beneath."

"And what's so ironic about that?" Shinji asked.

Sakura laughed, and Shinji took a step back as her eyes glowed, and smiling devilishly, mockingly embraced the idol of Ereshkigal. "The irony is that these two ruled over death," she said. "And yet with the passing of the Age of Gods and the coming of the Age of Man, they themselves are dead and gone. Their time is over, their power at an end, and their names…meaningless. Just like how the souls of mortals such as ourselves were meaningless to them."

Sakura scoffed and sneered as she stepped back, and regarded the idols with mockery. "And so their likenesses shall stand here," she said. "Before the entrance to my exhibition of death, symbolizing how even the gods could not stop that absolute certainty. There is no such thing as eternity. Everything ends, everything dies, be it sooner or later."

Sakura then paused, and smiled at Shinji. "And as you well know," she said. "Once something dies, it can never come back. Even the greatest of miracles can never bring them back."

Shinji did not reply, and after a moment Sakura turned back to her idols. And then in another moment, she was turning, and grabbing Shinji's hand, was pulling him away. "Hey wait!" he protested. "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm bored. Let's go have some fun!"

"Huh?"

Sakura smiled at him over her shoulder. "Come on," she said. "We've been stepping and looking and talking awkwardly with each other since you came home, and it's getting boring. Let's get along, cousin!"

"…that doesn't really answer my question."

"Do you know how to play a PlayStation?"

"Of course I do!"

"That's great! Then let's go have some fun!"

"Huh?"

* * *

"Um…how long am I supposed to…! AGH! NO! DON'T PULL!"

Rin snickered at Shirou's predicament, her younger twin (half-)sisters all over her childhood friend on the floor. Well, Aki was, pulling at Shirou's hair after jumping him from the back. Haru was more docile, content with her playing blocks, though she did giggle at Shirou's apparent discomfort as her twin pulled at Shirou's hair from the back.

"This is not funny, Rin!" Shirou snapped before crying out again as Aki pulled (again). "No…stop! That's not…ow!"

"Watch them while I help my mom prepare our snacks, Shirou." Rin said, and snickered again as Shirou acquiesced with a grumble.

Still snickering, Rin left the nursery, and making her way through the mansion to the pantry was met on the way by her mother, who was carrying a tray with her. "Oh good," Aoi said, holding the tray out to Rin. "You can carry these, I'll get the twins' things. Though, I'll need you to wait so we can get there together. Better for all of us if the twins have their milk at the same time as we're having tea."

Rin nodded. "Good idea," she said. "That way they won't be too rambunctious."

"Yes, that's what I was thinking too."

"Thankfully I was never that rambunctious."

"Eh…" Aoi said uncomfortably while wandering back to the pantry, and causing Rin to wonder if she'd ever been like the twins. After several moments, Aoi came back with another tray.

"…was I like them too?"

Aoi looked uncomfortable, but eventually acquiesced with touches of pink on her cheeks. "Ever wonder why there's less than a year's difference between your and Sakura's ages?" she asked.

"…no…"

"Well, you were rather sickly as a baby and well…your father…was worried that um…well, you wouldn't make it."

"Oh."

Aoi sighed. "So we um…you don't really need me to finish, do you?" she asked.

"No, not at all!" Rin blurted out, her own face turning red. "I completely understand."

"Yes, let's leave it at that."

Mother and daughter then walked towards the nursery in silence, and then Rin took a deep breath. "Hey," she began. "Can I ask a question?"

"Sure…what's on your mind, dear?"

"…um…I don't…I don't mean to judge…and I certainly don't mind having more siblings it's just that…"

"You worry about what your father might think, and is probably thinking on the other side, aren't you?"

Rin lowered her face. "Yes." She said softly.

Aoi stopped walking, and so did Rin, who stared at her mother. Aoi looked down and away for a few moments, and then taking a deep breath, met eyes with her eldest. "I loved your father." She said. "He was a good husband, and he made me happy in his own way. And he did his best for us all, and provided well for us. There's no question that we only live as comfortably as we do today thanks to him."

"But…?"

"It doesn't mean I have no regrets." Aoi said. "And he certainly did as he pleased without taking account our, or rather my opinions. In a way…he was a selfish man. And also quite callous too, with twisted ends and for a very bitter irony, all because he truly loved his children and family."

Rin stared, unable to deny it, and then Aoi sighed and looked away. "Ask your uncle," she said. "Ask your sister…your first sister, what he sent her away to."

"…what?"

Aoi smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "Nothing bad happened to Sakura. Just like you…she's very precocious. Too precocious…but it worked out well for her…"

Aoi's hands visibly tightened on the tray she was holding. "If only it worked out well for you too." She said bitterly, and Rin gasped and looked away as the memories came back.

 _No, no, no, no! You can't look away! This is art, the COOLEST and most SUPER AWESOME art! You think those graffiti they keep in museums is beautiful? It's boring! This…THIS is true art!_

 _You can't look away! What a waste! Look! Listen! Enjoy! Art like this…it's something that only shows once in a while, so you shouldn't pass up the opportunity to watch it being made and play out in front of you._

 _And be sure to anticipate becoming part of it too. Oh yes…those cute eyes and that cute voice of yours…_

 _…it will be beautiful, a whole new level of COOOOL!_

Rin swallowed dryly and licked her lips. "And?" she whispered.

Aoi glanced at Rin, and smiled. "If your father can be selfish," she said. "So can I."

With that, she resumed heading to the nursery, Rin following in her wake. "Besides," Aoi said, almost as an afterthought and as though only to herself. "He's been gone for years. I have the right to move on, and be happy again, don't I? Your uncle…Kariya…he…"

Aoi trailed off, while Rin couldn't find anything to say. The rest of the walk to the nursery was made in silence.

* * *

The twins busy with their milk bottles, Rin, Aoi, and Shirou enjoyed tea and biscuits in a quiet corner of the nursery. "So, how was your day today?" Aoi asked while setting her teacup down.

"It was fine." Rin said. "I think I've finally gotten used to the increased workload that comes with being in middle school, especially since I've somehow been elected class representative."

"Oh yes, you mentioned that before didn't you?" Aoi asked. "How's it going for you?"

"Class representative?" Rin asked, and Aoi nodded. "It's not so bad, for the most part."

"Oh?"

Rin scratched her head. "One of my fellow representatives," she said. "Issei Ryuudo…we don't exactly get along."

"Issei?" Shirou echoed in surprise, and caused eyes to turn in his direction.

"Do you know him?" Aoi asked.

"Oh yeah," Rin said in realization. "He's your class' representative, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is." Shirou said with a nod. "We're friends, though I'm closer to Shinji to be honest. Issei's a bit…weird, but he's not bad. Anyway, what's the problem?"

"Not really sure, to be honest." Rin answered, and scratching her head again. "We just seem to rub each other the wrong way."

Aoi and Shirou stared at Rin in silence, and she raised her hands. "Don't worry," she said. "We both know better than to go personal on each other. For all that we seem to just not get along, we can be and are professional with each other, with regard to our responsibilities."

"Well, I suppose that's all that can really be expected of you." Aoi said with some hesitation. "Though I would say you should make an effort to improve things between you. But if you can't…well, I do hope you remember your manners."

"Of course I do." Rin assured her mother. "You raised me right, mom."

Aoi smiled. "Yes, I did." She said, before turning to Shirou. "And how was your day, Shirou?"

"Good," Shirou said. "I'd handling schoolwork just fine, and I've made friends. There's Issei Ryuudo, and Shinji Matou from my class. Oh, and there's Ayako Mitsuzuri from _kyuudo_ club."

"Shinji…Matou…oh, Sakura's cousin?"

"Yes, him." Shirou said with a nod. "He's a lot like Uncle Byakuya…though that really shouldn't be surprising."

"Well, Byakuya _is_ his father." Aoi pointed out, and Rin nodded.

"How's he like his father, though?" Rin asked.

"He can be quite bossy, especially in the _kyuudo_ club." Shirou said. "He and Mitsuzuri butt heads quite a lot because of that. Though he is genuinely good at _kyuudo_ , and while he comes off as…well, smarter than most people, he really is smart. That, and he's quite sarcastic if and when he wants to be."

"…that…sounds a lot like Uncle Byakuya." Rin said.

"As I said," Aoi said. "Byakuya _is_ his father."

Rin and Shirou nodded, and then Aoi was getting up as the twins began to make a fuss. Shirou checked his wristwatch, and then blinked at the time. "Oh, um…" he hesitantly began, but Rin had noticed him checking the time earlier.

"Do you have to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, I still have to prepare dinner so…"

Rin nodded, as did Aoi as she came over, holding her youngest children in her arms. "We understand." She said. "In any case, it was nice of you to come over and visit, and for having tea with us. If you want though, we could lend you our car to drive you to your house. As I recall, you live on the other side of the city, don't you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose…"

Aoi smiled disarmingly. "It's no trouble at all." She said, before turning to Rin. "Rin, please tell Mister Kita to bring the car over."

"Right away."

Shirou bowed. "Thank you for your hospitality." He said formally, and Aoi smiled wider.

"It's no trouble at all, Shirou."

"Yes, and again, thank you."

* * *

A/N

And another time-skip, of two years. Shinji Matou makes his appearance, and thinking Sakura is his cousin (and of Matou blood) plus no Zouken around to twist his mind, he's not the whining, pathetic, rapist man-child we all love to hate and agonizingly kill in canon. Whether or not that will permanently be the case though…we shall see.

Meanwhile, in Chaldea a certain blonde Servant is sneezing at Sakura's mockery of Ereshkigal. On a more serious note though, Ereshkigal really was the most feared member of the Sumerian pantheon, which is why idols of her are so rare, as no one really wanted to bring her attention on them. And yes, the Sumerian (Mesopotamian in general, actually) Underworld was a dreary place, where your conduct, station, and achievements in life were absolutely meaningless. You will _always_ end up drinking mud and eating dust in doom and gloom for eternity, and Ereshkigal (along with Nergal) would be ruling over you that whole time.

Grand Order really white-washed Ereshkigal.

On a lighter note…Haru and Aki Matou (yes, they have their father's surname though they live with their mother) are about…ten-months old at this time. Born before Kiri passed on, but well after Byakuya teasing Kariya about his affair with Aoi in the previous chapter.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 9

The day started out normally enough.

Shirou's sleep had been undisturbed by painful reminiscing, and he'd gone through his morning routine with no problems whatsoever before heading to school. School itself had proceeded normally, though Rin hadn't eaten lunch with Shirou as she normally did, having had to attend an urgent Student Council meeting over some issue or another.

While technically an…abnormality, considering his daily routine, it wasn't really an out of the ordinary occurrence. Neither was having lunch with Shinji instead of Rin.

"What's that?" Shirou said in surprise. "Kamiya asked you out earlier today?"

"Yeah, she did." Shinji said before scratching his cheek. "I couldn't really say no, of course. I didn't want to hurt her feelings but…I don't know. Is it really going to work out?"

"Eh…give it a shot." Shirou said while scratching his head. "It might surprise you."

"Or it might not." Shinji countered before giving sigh. "Then again…I don't lose anything by giving it my best."

"That, and you did say you didn't want to hurt her feelings." Shirou said. "If you're really serious about that, then do your best to make things work out. I'm sure she'll do the same for you, and if it doesn't, well, at least you'll both know you did all you could to make it work. It just couldn't, and neither of you were really at fault. It just wasn't meant to be."

"…when did you become such an expert on relationships?"

"Eh…Fuji-nee likes to watch…um, romantic series on TV." Shirou said. "And the kitchen's right next to the living room. Even when I'm cooking I can hear, and I get curious, and I pick up some things here and there."

"…I don't really think romantic TV series are a good source on relationship advice." Shinji said incredulously before blinking and actually giving it some serious thought. "No, wait, they might be…as examples of what _not_ to do if you actually want a relationship to work."

"Pretty much." Shirou said before digging back into his lunch. "Anyway, when and where are you going out with Kamiya?"

"She wants to watch a movie with me tonight." Shinji said, also briefly going back to his lunch. "That we'll have dinner out afterwards goes without saying. Whether or not we'll go anywhere after that…we'll see, I guess."

Shirou gave Shinji a skeptical glance. "Shinji, we're thirteen." He said. "You really expect anything more than that tonight? Seriously?"

"Huh? What are you…wait, no!" Shinji said, as he realized what Shirou was insinuating (and he unknowingly did as well). He coughed to regain his composure, his cheeks pink. "I didn't mean I wanted or expected us to…well, go _that_ far. At least not on first date…if things work out though…then later on…"

Shirou shook his head, and Shinji coughed again. "What I meant to say was," he said. "If there's going to be any more…dates, I guess, between me and Kamiya in the future, we'll find out after tonight's date."

"Okay, fair enough." Shirou said with a nod. "Though I do hope things work out between you two, at least for a while. And when it ends, it won't end badly."

"Thanks, Emiya."

"No problem."

The two boys focused on their lunch after that, all conversation dying until they were finished, and just relaxed while drinking their drinks. "How about you though, Emiya?" Shinji suddenly asked as he finished his can of fruit juice. "Anyone interested in you?"

"I haven't had anyone ask me out like someone asked you out." Shirou answered. "And I'm not really interested in anyone right now either."

Shinji hummed while giving a teasing smile and raising an eyebrow. "Not even Tohsaka?" he asked. "You do spend a lot of time with her."

"That's because she's a friend." Shirou replied. "My best friend, in fact. We've known each other since we were kids. That's all there is to it."

Shinji hummed again before briefly looking out the window. "What about Mitsuzuri?" he asked.

"What about her?"

"What do you think about her?"

"…well, she's very good at _kyuudo_ , and she's a good friend too." Shirou replied. "And not just for me, for both of us, even if you do keep butting heads with her."

"I think that's what's called a 'friendly rivalry'. Seriously, while she and I don't always see eye to eye, I respect her, and her abilities." Shinji said with a nod.

"But?"

"I just think she's too…soft, I guess." Shinji said with a shrug. "To the other members of the club, that is. Not with herself: to reach her level of skill needs both talent and practice. And she has both in spades. I just don't think she sets that good an example for other members of our club."

"Is that so now?" Ayako Mitsuzuri said, having overheard the latter part of the conversation and had then walked up unnoticed to the two boys. "While I'm glad to hear that you know I take my responsibilities seriously, I'm curious. How exactly am I not a good example for our fellow club members?"

Shinji looked peevish at her unexpected appearance. "I didn't mean the club in general," he clarified. "Just…the freshmen members, like we are."

"That didn't really answer my question: how am I _not_ a good example?"

"You're too soft, Mitsuzuri." Shinji replied. "As someone who can do better, you should also push our fellow freshmen to do just as well. They need to take _kyuudo_ more seriously. It's more than just learning how to shoot a bow and arrow, it's also how to shoot it _right_ , and to reach that level in the _right way_ as well. They need discipline and focus, and while the three of us have got those down, our fellow freshmen…not so much. And if you can't do it right, then don't bother at all."

"Learning comes at a pace, Matou." Mitsuzuri countered. "Everyone has their own pace. And when it comes to discipline and focus, to an extent I agree but, we can't push people around. We don't have the authority to do that, given we're just freshmen. Maybe when we're older, and have position in the club."

"And that's why you're too soft, Mitsuzuri." Shinji shot back. "Even without official position, as the best archers among the freshmen, we have the unofficial responsibility of inspiring and driving the other freshmen to do better."

"And just where did you get that idea in the first place?"

Shirou sighed as Ayako and Shinji bickered as they usually did, just not in the _kyuudo_ clubroom like they usually did, but in the classroom this time. " _Like an old married couple._ " A voice that was suspiciously reminiscent of Rin and Taiga both whispered in Shirou's mind but he didn't voice the thought.

It wouldn't have helped matters any. Not that it didn't have a point, of course. Shirou stifled a snicker at the thought. It wouldn't have helped either.

* * *

The rest of the lunch period flew by without incident, as did afternoon classes. They ended, and the students wandered off for club activities, and when those finished as well, they wandered off to home or to wherever they had something planned for afterschool activities. For the most part: some clubs had had to extend their meetings for a while longer, though they all finished and the students left.

Last to remain at school was the Student Council, which was busy deliberating certain discrepancies in the budget for activities to be held later in the year, and complaints from some clubs about funding irregularities. Making matters worse was that those clubs had involved the PTA…

…which made Rin Tohsaka's position very uncomfortable. And with good reason: her mother, Aoi Tohsaka, was the President of the PTA. This meant the Student Council President and his lackeys among the seniors had been sending veiled glares her way ever since the lunch meeting, and the PTA's inquiries on why some clubs seemed to be unfairly favored when it came to funding than others had been brought up.

Not that it really bothered Rin, of course. She'd survived a run-in with a magical serial killer as a child, and had come out of it with some psychological scars. Compared to that, what was a high school student's resentment?

Uncomfortable, that was all it really was.

And then it became alarming, when bounded fields started falling into place all around the school, and the rest of the Student Council started dropping like flies. Rin was unaffected, but her body burned with icy pain as her magic circuits instinctively filled with prana to resist a magical compulsion cast over the entire school grounds.

And then there were the bestial roars echoing across the whole school, and Rin gasped in alarm and shock from where she was checking the pulses of her fellow council members. " _What the hell is going on?_ " she thought in alarm. " _There's no way this is anything but deliberate. But why here? Why now? Could it…could they be after me? Or…_ "

Narrowing her eyes and hissing in frustration, Rin waved a hand through the air, her crest coming to life on her hand. A simple diagnostic spell was cast over the entire room to confirm that the council members and their faculty adviser were alright, and simply…out cold, and in no danger of death.

And then Rin was grabbing her bag, and rifling through its interior, pulled out a bag of gems which she promptly pocketed. Rushing to the door, she used a spell to determine if someone or something was waiting on the other side, and when there were none, she slid it open and stepped out.

Closing it behind her, she set up a spell to keep anything or anyone from entering the room, sacrificing one of her gems – a shard of obsidian – to empower her spell with the Earth Element. And then reinforcing her body, swept off across the school towards where she sensed several…strange, signatures homing in on a single person.

 _They're not after me, they're after him! Damn it…Shirou, hang on! I'm coming!_

* * *

The…monster roared and charged at Shirou, who snapped out of his horrified stupor and leapt out of the way. Desks broke, fragments of wood and metal flying as the monster crushed them as it plowed forward or underfoot.

"W-w-w-w-what the hell is that?" Shirou said scrambling to his feet, and towards the ruined door and the hallway beyond. The monster behind him turned and roared before stomping in pursuit.

Shirou struck the window facing outside, only to wince as the glass held. " _It's been…reinforced?_ " he thought in horror. " _I'm trapped!_ "

A roar from behind and further down the corridor had Shirou running, though not without a glance behind him. There were several of the monsters, one coming out of the classroom wherein Shirou had been cleaning (today had been his duty day as class cleaner and which he'd only been able to attend to _after_ club activities had been done), and two more further down the hallway behind them.

They were…hulking shapes, with a generally-humanoid appearance. Humanoid as in with four limbs, and from what he could see, five toes on each foot and four fingers and a thumb on each hand.

…was hand even appropriate to call those as? Claws, more like, and their heads…Shirou didn't know how to describe it, and were very far from Human.

They resembled dogs in a way, with snouts and elongated heads, though the red eyes with black irises were…reptilian? He didn't know, and he didn't care.

Not right now: survival was the priority.

"Trace, on!" Shirou shouted, feeling the familiar sensation of his spine being burned as he cast his aria. Soon after, fire blossomed across his body as he reinforced it…

…and then all of them, Shirou and the monsters both, were staggering as the whole school shook from a massive explosion. In the distance they heard the sound of glass breaking, and then the monsters were howling, roaring in rage.

" _What was that?_ " Shirou asked himself, before resuming to run down the hallway and then around a corner and down the stairwell, the monsters still in hot pursuit. If not hotter, and the monsters visibly angrier, than before.

" _Whatever it was,_ " Shirou thought as he took the stairs three at a time. " _It's really pissed them off. Damn it, I have to get out of here!_ "

Reaching the next floor down, Shirou ran down the hallway instead of heading to the ground floor and the main entrance. " _This isn't an accident or a coincidence._ " He thought. " _Someone let those things loose in here. Could be magi…or, maybe those things…some kind of Phantasmal Beasts, on the hunt. But why here? And why now? Either way…they'd be sure to block the easiest way in or out…the service exits it is then!_ "

* * *

The foyer for Homurahara Academy was a blasted ruin, its windows shattered and the furniture blown to bits. The paint was scorched and peeling off the walls, the concrete beneath pitted and cracked. Blood was splattered all over, whether the floor, walls, and ceiling, along with broken flesh and bone.

And even then Rin was holding back, for should she stop holding back, just a single gem gave her enough power to raze the entire academy to the ground.

The last monster reared up and roared in rage at the loss of the rest of its pack, and beating its claws against its chest charged at Rin. Rin took her stance, like a sprinter about to leap forward, and holding down her right hand crushed a piece of rock crystal in her hand. And then opening her fist, lightning erupted around and over her fingers, hand, and forearm.

Vinyl and concrete broke beneath Rin's feet as she leaped forward, meeting the monster's charge with her own. As they closed, it drew back a clawed arm, and swiped forward at Rin, who simultaneously struck forward with her lightning-wreathed, right hand.

Flesh and bone literally and visibly disintegrated as Rin simply tore through the monster's arm as she ran past, the monster roaring in agony as it clutched the smoking stump of its right arm. And then turning, it spotted Rin similarly turn behind it, throwing a diamond pulsing like a strobe in its direction.

It struck the monster's chest…

…and again, the foyer shook from the air displaced by the explosion, blood and offal flying outwards.

"Seven," Rin breathed, repeatedly and quickly clenching and unclenching her right hand to loosen her muscles. "I've taken out seven of those things. What were they…where'd they come from, and how'd they get here?"

Taking a deep breath, Rin looked around, and sensing no more nearby threats, crushed another rock crystal in her hand. Her senses briefly broadened as a spell came to life, and she sensed Shirou's signature fleeing through the service passageways and out behind the school.

But he wasn't alone. There were six more monsters behind him, and another three guarding the back of the school.

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any more than that, but Rin couldn't sense who could be controlling them or who had set the bounded fields, at least not within the latter. " _Are they just outside?_ " she asked as she ran towards Shirou. " _Waiting and watching? Or are they at a safe distance? Those things…they didn't seem to be familiars, and more like alchemically-bred abominations of some kind._ "

Rin made a disgusted sound. " _I need to capture at least one corpse intact, or largely-intact, if only to figure out how they tick, and who might have sent them_." She thought. " _Though by this point, it really does seem they're after Shirou…Kiritsugu Emiya's…the Magus Killer's son._ "

* * *

The service door leading into the back of the school grounds banged open as a heavily-breathing Shirou Emiya rushed out. By this point the Sun had completely set, and though the Moon had already risen, it was too slender to provide much light. And while the school had external lighting, the ones in the area were off, and Shirou had no time or opportunity to turn them on.

The back of the school was thus a dark and forbidding area, an expanse of open ground dotted with blockhouses and a wooded area beyond. It was towards the latter that Shirou ran towards, in the hope of losing his pursuers in the trees.

It was a hope that died when, as Shirou approached, three more monsters appeared from between the trees. The glowing red of their eyes appeared first, then their shadowed silhouettes, and finally they emerged fully into the weak light of the Moon.

And behind Shirou there were six more of the monsters, spreading out until all nine of them surrounded him. They roared and grunted in a taunting manner, as though daring Shirou to try and run.

Shirou clenched his fists at the mockery, and at frustration at how his life would end here. " _Is this it?_ " he asked himself in silence. " _Is this how far I can go? Where I will end? Without even being able to start making dad's dream come true…without saving a single life…will I die here? Just like this, as prey for monsters?_ "

Memories flashed through Shirou's head, of lying in the cold and muddy ground, the freezing rain falling around and on him, feeling his life ebb away, sapped by the cold and the weariness as he closed his eyes…

…and then, just as he thought would he never open them again, he did.

A smile…water and mud splashing as a man fell onto his knees…that smile…warmth spreading through his body…

…and always that smile…

…as though he had not saved Shirou…

…but Shirou had saved him.

" _No…_ " Shirou thought with bitter resolve. " _I can't die here. I can't let my life just end like this, and let that smile have been for nothing! I…!_ "

Shirou took a step back, and felt his foot step on something. He risked a sideways glance down, on the broken branch beneath his feet, and a thought came to minc. " _When the only way left is up…_ " he thought, and slowly sinking down, grabbed the branch, and rose to his feet.

The monsters snarled and began to move, moving alone or in pairs closer and then back again, sideways in groups, in order to disorient Shirou. "Trace, on." Shirou whispered, the branch in his hand twisting and reshaping itself into a spear. The head was only made of wood, but it was better than nothing…just like how a small chance was still more than simply succumbing.

Especially once he'd reinforced it.

"Come on!" Shirou shouted, and in response, one of the monsters roared and charged forward. Shirou dodged the swipes of its claws, and stabbed forwards and up with its spear. Whether by luck or skill he struck true, one of the monster's eyes going out in a spray of blood and ichor, and a shout of pain.

Shirou's smile and feeling of triumph was short-lived. The monster went berserk, Shirou unable to completely dodge a swipe of its claws, the boy shouting in pain at the tips of its claws dragged across his face. Thankfully they missed his eyes, but blood poured from a trio of long cuts across his face, and disoriented by the experience, completely failed to avoid the next strike.

Claws backed by inhuman strength struck deep into his side, and Shirou screamed in pain as he was sent flying, blood spilling through the air in his wake. He landed on the ground, gasping and feeling light-headed, and weakly-stabbing at a monster looming over him.

He barely scratched its toughened skin, and the monster simply swatted Shirou's spear away before raising a leg to end Shirou's life.

 _No…damn it…I can't…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…dad…Rin…Sakura…_

* * *

Rin ran out of the service door in time to see Shirou flying. She saw him weakly attempt to fight, and a monster to prepare to end him.

 _NO!_

" _Glanz,_ " Rin shouted as she ran forward, crushing gemstones in her hands and throwing the powder into the air. " _Bilder vom Phönix!_ "

The powdered gems simultaneously caught flame and shaped themselves into phoenixes that rushed the monsters crowded around Shirou. They turned at the sound of her voice and of her approach, and then recoiled as the burning images of the legendary phoenix struck at them.

The damage was only superficial at best, and the surprise quickly wore off…

…but it wasn't the only surprise, for as each image was torn apart by the monsters, they exploded, scorching and blackening their hides.

The monster which had loomed over Shirou died as Rin slammed a handful of gems into its torso, the monster literally flying apart. And then Rin whirled, throwing gems all round. Opals, moonstones, and emeralds flew through the air, and on striking each monster, encased them in ice. Five were soon trapped, frozen in place, and with a snarl of hatred Rin aimed with her finger and fired off several Finn shots.

One shot was enough to blow them to bits, leaving three more of the monsters to snarl and roar at Rin. Rin responded by swallowing a red garnet, and taking a deep breath, breathed out a ball of fire at the monster in the center.

The resulting explosion sent a mangled corpse falling back on the ground, and the two remaining monsters charging her. Rin charged forward, seemingly to meet their charge, and then jumping into the air, turned a full circle, and threw what looked like dual-bladed weapon crafted from a pair of rock crystals. It flew between the monsters, spinning, an unseen, monomolecular blade of wind extending from either end…

…and bisecting both monsters in a spray of blood.

They fell to the ground, whining and grunting piteously until at last, they lay still, dead.

Rin let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in, and then she was rushing back to Shirou. "Shirou!" Rin shouted, falling to her knees beside him. "No…no…no…you can't die here. You can't let those…freaks, win in the end. I won't let you died here! I won't!"

Muttering spells in German, her crest glowing along with magic circuits across her body, Rin inserted several gems into the bloody wounds in Shirou's side, and watched with undisguised relief as they closed. But the blood loss was too much, and even with the wounds closed and the internal damage repaired, Shirou was still slipping away.

Muttering even more spells in German, Rin pried Shirou's mouth open, and stuffed more gems down his throat, working his neck to make him swallow. And then holding him close, murmured more spells into his ear, feeling her prana fill his body and ease the strain, sustaining him in his lack of lifeblood.

Shirou gasped explosively as he woke with a jolt, and forced air into his lungs under his own power. "R-Rin…" he gasped. "W-what are…t-the monsters…they…"

Shirou broke off coughing, Rin helping him breath and patting him on the back. "It's alright, they're gone." She told. "I'm sorry…I wasn't fast enough. I should have been quicker…if only I'd gotten here earlier…"

Shirou spent the next several moments catching his breath, and turned to face her. "Rin…you…" he breathed. "You're a magus."

Rin nodded. "I am." She said. "And I know you are."

"…how?"

"Save the explanations for later." Rin said, helping Shirou to his feet, and helped him walk away. "Right now, we need to get you to someplace safe. I've managed to take out all of those things, but there could be more."

"More?"

"Maybe…I don't know for sure. And that's why we have to go someplace safe."

"…where?"

"My house." Rin said. "Safest place in the city, except maybe Sakura's or Kotomine Church. Come on, let's move before others gunning for your head arrive."

"…my head…but why…"

"As I said," Rin said, still helping the weak and shaking Shirou walk. "Save the explanations for later. Right now, let's just get away from here. But don't worry, once we're safe, once you've regained your strength, I'll answer all your questions. I promise."

"…hold you to that."

Rin smiled, and falling silent walked Shirou away.

* * *

A/N

Oh dear, somebody's gunning for Shirou's head.

How could Sakura's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception butterfly _this_ into happening? Well, unless someone figures it out during this arc, you'll have to wait until the end of the arc to know why. For now, suffice to say that this is just the beginning of certain people wanting to get back at Kiritsugu targeting Shirou.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 10

"HADOUKEN! HADOUKEN!"

"Come on," Sakura growled, looking very frustrated as her fingers tightly gripped her controller and her thumbs danced frantically over the buttons. In contrast, sitting next to her on the floor, her cousin Shinji looked cool as a cucumber, his thumbs moving quickly but less frantically over the buttons on his controller. A few moments passed, and then…

"KO!"

"GAAAAAAAAH!" Sakura snapped in frustration, and striking the ground with one hand. Shinji gave a short laugh, and threw a smirk her way.

"Just like there are some things you are simply better at than I am," he said. "There are also some things I am simply better at than you are. Life's like that, Sakura. What's the score?"

Sakura muttered something under her breath, and Shinji put a hand to his ear, an exaggerated gesture that he didn't quite catch what Sakura had said. "What was that?" he asked, still smirking. "What's the score again?"

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, only to be cut off by a diffident cough at the game room doorway. Both cousins turned, and a maid standing in the doorway bowed. "I apologize for the interruption, Miss Sakura and Master Shinji," she said. "But there's a phone call for Miss Sakura from Miss Rin."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, and scrambled to her feet. "Sounds important if she's calling this late." She said, walking over to and out the door, towards where the phone was waiting at on the ground floor. Shinji followed at a polite distance out of curiosity, and listened as Sakura talked to Rin over the phone.

"Hmm…what? Seriously?" Sakura asked, increasingly looking agitated and alarmed. "At the school? Who? They sent what? Oh no…is he alright? I see…that's good. Okay…alright…I'll be right over. Just let me pick up some stuff first…no, no. We'll need to cleanup at your school afterwards, and maybe check out whatever those things were. Yes…yes, alright. See you."

Sakura put the phone down, and walked away with a grim expression on her face. "That's a scary face." Shinji observed as he fell into step beside her. "Did something happen?"

Sakura looked at Shinji with a serious expression on her face. "Someone attacked Shirou at his and your school." She said, and Shinji's eyes went wide.

"WHAT?"

"It gets worse." Sakura said. "From what big sis tells me, whoever it was, they sent alchemically-bred monsters to do the job for them. If big sis hadn't been there…"

Sakura trailed off, while Shinji made a frustrated sound while punching one hand into another. "How bad is it?" he asked while catching up.

"Like I said," Sakura began. "If big sis hadn't been there…"

"…so now what?"

"Big sis brought Shirou to her house." Sakura said. "I'm going there to discuss the details, but if you want to come along and see how Shirou's doing, then get ready. That said, the details aside the general shape of what's next for us should be obvious. We need to clean up the mess at school, figure out what those things they sent after Shirou really were, who or what sent them, and how to deal with it for good."

"…why exactly were they at school so late?" Shinji asked. "Wait…no. I know Emiya was still there because he had to clean up our classroom after _kyuudo_ practice, and he's quite…diligent, when it comes to that. So…what was Tohsaka doing there?"

"Student Council business."

"Ah…huh. They met during lunch too. And they met again this evening? Something must be up."

"Be thankful there was something up." Sakura said. "If big sis hadn't been there, Shirou would be dead. Not that the Student Council ever deals with anything of real importance, anyway."

"Eh…arguable…but never mind that. Anyway, I'll go and get ready while you do the same."

"Right…see you at the car later."

"Got it."

* * *

It was about half an hour later when Sakura and Shinji arrived at the Tohsaka property on one of their family's cars, and were being shown in by a maid. From there, they were escorted to the living room, where Shirou was nursing a large mug of steaming tea, its aroma tinted with the strong scent of brandy.

Opposite him sat Rin, while on a nearby armchair sat Aoi, mother and daughter both nursing teacups of their own. "Sakura…Shinji…" Rin said while getting to her feet. "Good to see you both here."

"So…how bad is it?" Sakura asked after exchanging a hug with her sister. She then turned to Shirou, and her irises briefly glowed. "You said over the phone that Shirou would have died if you hadn't gotten there in time, and from the look of things, he did get pretty close. Mind giving the details?"

"They'd cut him open along one side of his torso," Rin said. "And cut him across the face. The latter was superficial, really superficial, enough not to leave scars behind with magical healing. The former though…Shirou had all but bled out by the time I could start patching him up. It was very much touch and go."

Sakura and Shinji winced, the latter leaning against the back of the couch and patting Shirou on a shoulder. "Damn," he said. "That was too close there, Emiya. Good to see you managed to get through in one piece. Thanks, Tohsaka."

"He's my friend too, Shinji." Rin said with a nod.

Sakura regarded Rin out of the corner of her eyes, and then turned to Shirou for a few moments. And then she turned back to her sister. " _He needs to know._ " She said, speaking in German. " _If his father's past is catching up to him, then he has the right to know why people have marked him for death_."

" _I know._ " Rin said, while running a hand over her face. " _But…I need to find a way to ease it for him. You don't seriously expect me to just tell him that his dad was an assassin and for him to just accept it and get over it immediately, do you?_ "

" _…point._ "

"You know," Shinji observed. "While I – and I assume Aunt Tohsaka – can understand what you're saying, I doubt Emiya here does. Care to include us in the conversation?"

Sakura nodded at Shinji, and then crossing her arms, looked expectantly at Rin. Aoi did so as well. "You should tell him, Rin." She said. "He needs to know. Your promise to Kiritsugu was only so Shirou here could live a peaceful life. But, if what we all suspect is true, that this attack was because of Kiritsugu's past catching up to his son…he needs to know. Otherwise, he never will have a chance for a peaceful life, much less an actual one."

"I know! It's just that…"

Shinji made a sound of disgust. "Fine," he said. "I'll tell him. Emiya, your dad…back when he was in his prime, he was an infamous and very dangerous magical assassin and bounty hunter who went by the title of Magus Killer."

There was a moment of utter silence. "Shinji…!" Rin growled.

"…Magus…Killer…?" Shirou echoed, and took a drink of his brandy-laced tea. "Sounds dangerous…so all this talk about dad's past catching up to me…did he kill someone important…?"

"He wasn't a killer for hire." Rin said with another glare at Shinji. "Not really…while he did take payment for killing people, the people he killed all deserved to die. In fact, for some of them, death was the least they deserved. For others, death was a kindness they never deserved. Vampires…heretics…monsters…those were the kind of people he killed."

"…and how did you know all this?" Shirou asked. "And why didn't you ever tell me?"

 _"Second Owner,"_

 _It was just two words, but it came out of nowhere, and from a man Rin never expected it from. And from the tone of voice, he knew exactly what it meant. "You're a magus!" she said with a mix of shock, surprise, and betrayal._

 _"I used to be." Kiritsugu Emiya admitted, ignoring Rin's alarmed stance and walking past, sat down opposite her. "Now…I'm just a sick old man who's about to die very soon."_

 _"W-w-what?"_

 _In response, Kiritsugu held out a hand. "Have a look." He said. "All the answers you seek are in my magic circuits. Or what used to be my magic circuits."_

 _For several moments, Rin just stared at Kiritsugu. And then, warily sitting down, she took his hand…_

 _…and then sprang up and away. "Oh God…" she said, looking at it and then at Kiritsugu's face in horror. "What the hell happened to you? That…that curse…where did you get it from?"_

 _Kiritsugu smiled and shook his head. "A story I'd prefer not to talk about." He said. "And knowing it won't change anything. Whatever it was that birthed this curse and placed it on me has been dealt with…not that it affected the curse in any way. The same goes for you knowing it. Apart from that…all I can say is that this curse, and the battle I got it in, reminded me of what's really important in my life…and to cherish what time…what people…friends…family…I have left, in what little time is also left to me."_

 _Rin was silent, and then she sat back down. They sat in silence for a long time, and then Rin lowered her face. "Is that why you never came before me now?" she said. "Because you wanted to live what little life you have left in peace?"_

 _"Yes." Kiritsugu said with a nod. "And I didn't want to bother you. You're a very intelligent and driven child, Rin. A prodigy, I'd say, and best of all, you have a good sense of what's right and wrong. Keep it, it's not something to be ashamed of, and indeed, something to be proud of, instead."_

 _"Flatterer…"_

 _Kiritsugu smiled. "I only said the truth." He said. "If I'd come to you before, you'd probably have tried to help. You'd only have wasted your time, and in the worst case, could have caught the curse yourself. As I said…I didn't want to bother you."_

 _"So what's changed?"_

 _"My son," Kiritsugu said. "He's your friend. And while his potential is…average, like calls to like. I couldn't – and wouldn't – have him break his friendship with you, and between those two…as much as I'd prefer for him to just live out his life as an ordinary person…unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be unlikely for him to avoid getting drawn into the affairs of the moonlit world. One can hope, but…"_

 _Kiritsugu trailed off, and Rin nodded slowly. "Have you trained him?" she asked._

 _"A little," Kiritsugu said. "I can't really show him much…but he knows the gist of things, and the few rules that govern the moonlit world. Beyond that…"_

 _Again, Kiritsugu trailed off, and Rin nodded again. "I won't ask you to pick up his training once my time is up." Kiritsugu said. "As a – former – fellow magus, I know better than to ask. But I thought that you should know, and from me, as his father, who made the decision not to approach you before now, and not from Shirou who didn't have a hand in my decision."_

 _"…does he know about me?" Rin asked._

 _"No," Kiritsugu said with a shake of his head. "He knows what a Second Owner is, but he doesn't know about you. And I'd prefer you didn't tell him about yourself, until it becomes really necessary."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"As I said, Shirou is average, and towards the low end at that." Kiritsugu said. "And he's such a good and gentle boy…too kind for the moonlit world. I don't want him to lose what innocence he has left to our world."_

 _"You're hoping that he'll eventually give up on magecraft."_

 _"Yes."_

 _"That's…"_

 _Kiritsugu smiled and shook his head. "I want to protect him." He said softly, looking away to look at the sky through a nearby window, their booth in the virtually-empty café sitting in a quiet corner. "And yes, I know from a magus' perspective that what I do is…heretical, and unbecoming if not outright **shameful** for a magus."_

 _"That's…"_

 _Kiritsugu nodded. "Then," he said. "Allow me to tell you a story, of a young boy who dreamed of becoming a hero, who lost his innocence and had his dreams broken when his father and the girl he loved showed him just how twisted our world is. Let me tell you the story of a young man who thought he could save the world by sacrificing the least number for a supposed greater good. Let me tell you of the Magus Killer, and I ask you, Second Owner to listen until the end, and to withhold judgment until then. Let me tell you of Kiritsugu Emiya."_

Shirou sniffed and wiped at his eyes, as Rin told him what his father had told her. Alimango Island…Natalia…the Path of Least Bloodshed…

"…when you save someone's life," Shirou murmured. "It means not saving someone else's…dad…why didn't you ever tell me?"

"He wanted to protect you." Rin said. "He wanted you to be able to live your life according to your own choices, and to not follow his example. An example that only led him to pain and misery. He only ever told me to convince me to go along. To make me promise to keep it secret until you absolutely needed to know, and to leave you and him alone in peace for just as long."

Shirou clenched his fists, but couldn't deny what Rin said. Not after what she'd told him. Not after what his father had told her. It hurt that his dad had chosen to trust in Rin rather than in him, but he could understand the reasoning. It didn't make it hurt any less, but still…

…he could understand.

Oh he understood…that smile…on that day…in the rain and in the cold…amidst the ashes of a city burnt to the ground…

…his father had sacrificed so much until then…not just the lives of the people around him…not just the lives of people who deserved to but could not be saved…but even his dream. And then he found Shirou lying there…dying in the cold rain and the mud…and a chance to make his dream come true, if only for a single child.

 _When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a Hero of Justice._

Shirou closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. " _I understand, dad. I understand._ " He said. " _Even so…I…_ "

"Maybe this is too much." Aoi said, getting up and ringing for a maid. Moments later and a maid arrived with a bow. "I suggest you get some rest and sleep. You've been through so much…both in the attack earlier, and now this. Get some rest, and think it over some more after you wake up. You'll both feel better, and think much more clearly."

Shirou nodded shakily, while Aoi asked the maid to prepare a guest room. The maid bowed and left, while Sakura coughed diffidently. "Unfortunately," she said. "The best case that Mister Emiya wanted for Shirou doesn't seem an option right now."

"Sakura…" Aoi said reprovingly, and Sakura raised her hands.

"All I'm saying is that the only reason we're letting these secrets out is because…well, it looks like someone who crossed paths with Mister Emiya is back for revenge so…"

"Even so," Aoi interrupted. "Let's drop this topic for now, at least until Shirou here has managed to clear his head and can think clearly. It's his future, his life. I was never in favor of hiding the truth from him, and now that he has what he needs to make his own choice about what he wants in life, let's leave him in peace to make that choice. Understood?"

"Yes, mom." Sakura said, and Rin nodded.

"Yes, mom."

Aoi nodded, and then walked over to Shirou. "Come along, Shirou." She said. "I'll show you to your room. I'll also call Miss Fujimura later, and tell her what I can."

"Yes, thank you. I…I _need_ to think, so I…"

"It's alright, I understand. Come along…"

Rin, Sakura, and Shinji watched as Aoi and Shirou left the living room, the former escorting the latter to a guest room. They stayed silent until they were out of earshot, and then turned back to each other.

"Now what?" Shinji asked.

"As mom says," Rin said. "What Shirou plans to do with his life from here on out should be up to him."

"That said," Sakura began. "We have work to do. Cleaning up at school for starters, and then preparing for whoever these people are following up."

"Hmm…yeah, magi aren't the type to give up. Especially as from what I hear, magi would be the kind to take what Mister Emiya did in the past personally." Shinji said with crossed arms. "This attempt failed…but that only means they'll try again in the future, and differently. But…can we really take action here? Not without looked personally invested with Emiya? I mean, of course we are, he's a friend, but you _are_ Second Owner, Tohsaka. It could be problematic."

"Maybe," Rin conceded before giving a snort and a smile. "But, it's as you said, Shinji. I'm Second Owner. And part of my responsibility is to maintain order among supernatural individuals on my territory. Personal vendettas that could risk compromising the Masquerade would go against that responsibility, so there you go."

"Huh…there is that. Clever, Tohsaka."

Rin smirked. "Should we head over to the school now, then?" Sakura asked.

"No, let's wait until mom comes back." Rin said. "Let's tell her what we plan to do, and then we can go. We should also drop Shinji off at your house along the way."

"Yeah, I've got no place on a magical battlefield." Shinji said with a shrug, before narrowing his eyes. "That said, you two be careful. You had to leave the battlefield early, Rin, without any chance to mop up and be sure the enemy had either been completely destroyed, or had really retreated. It's possibly they might still be around…and might even be expecting you to come back, and set up a trap for you."

"A prudent call…" Rin mused while slowly nodding. "I'm inclined to agree. We should call for backup, just in case."

"…Father Kotomine?" Sakura asked after a moment before making a face.

"Yeah, I'm not a big fan either." Rin said with a sigh. "But with your dad and uncle out of town, he's the only option we've got."

"…fair enough."

Rin nodded. "I'll make the call then, and grab my things while mom's busy with Shirou." She said. "You have everything you need?"

"Yes."

"Good, then I won't be long."

* * *

Kirei Kotomine watched with mild amusement as Rin guided the dull-eyed Student Council out of the school building, and then across the quadrangle to the entrance/exit. They would remain under her spell until they reached their houses, at which point they would come back to their right minds, with falsified memories of the past few hours.

Nearby, Sakura crouched down on the ground, wearing protective gloves and goggles along with a mask while working on a field alchemy kit. Next to her were three, recovered, largely-intact corpses of the monsters which had attacked Shirou and which Rin had killed, while body parts and blood samples in jars and vials were also nearby.

"So," Rin began. "Your thoughts, Kirei?"

"I told you involving yourself with the son of the Magus Killer would cause trouble."

"And as I told you before," Rin snapped. "Just because he _might_ cause trouble is not reason enough to end a friendship over!"

"And now that he brought you trouble," Kirei responded. "That reasoning has become invalid."

"He is no threat to me." Rin said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Those monsters nearly killed him, and from what I've learned of him he's only of average potential, and towards the low end at that. And more importantly, he is in the right here."

"Oh?"

"These people who targeted him did so in a manner that could have risked damaging the masquerade." Rin said. "Attacking a school? And in early evening, no less? Either way, it is way too public to be tolerable, much less acceptable. And on a personal vendetta, no less."

"The Mages Association has no interest in the personal rivalries and grudges of magi." Kirei pointed out. "You have no authority to act against personal vendettas being conducted on your territory."

"That is the _official_ position." Rin responded. "And you know as well as I do that unofficially the Association is all too interested in the personal rivalries and grudges of magi. And the Association is very much hands-off with regard to how their Second Owners maintain order and safeguard the spiritual health of their territories. Also…"

"Yes?"

"Kiritsugu Emiya's activities tended to have tacit Association backing." Rin said. "Whoever he pissed off in the past leading to this would only get token support from the Association at best if they tried to accuse me of overstepping my authority. More likely they'd be ignored, and the Association even giving _me_ tacit backing to finish what Kiritsugu Emiya started."

"I see." Kirei said with a slow nod. "It seems you have thought this through. Impressive, though…"

"You're going to want to see this." Sakura cut in, getting up and pushing her goggles off her eyes onto her forehead. As Rin and Kirei approached, she handed the former a vial containing a fragment of one of the monsters suspended in some kind of fluid. "Use structural analysis and compare what you find with the Buckstein-Lindeman Scale, and you'll see."

"…no…"

"Yes," Sakura said with an expression of disgust. "These things aren't alchemically-bred monsters. These are mutated Humans. And from the preliminary analysis alone they were mutated quite recently, within the week in fact. I should be able to narrow it down into a twenty-four-hour margin with some more research but…just from what we already know…"

Sakura trailed off, but the expression on her face spoke volumes. The same went for Rin, while Kirei just looked thoughtful. "So the magecraft involves twisting Human flesh and no doubt puppeteering what's left of their minds?" he asked. "Hmm…perhaps I might be able of some assistance there."

"What do you have in mind, Kirei?" Rin asked.

"Give me the data on the analysis of these corpses." He said. "I might be able to use it to deduce the specifications of the magecraft involved, and then use those to narrow down our suspects by comparing it to magecraft they might be known to use."

"I'll send big sis my data once I'm done." Sakura said, already crouching back down to seal the body bags. "She can send it to you with her data."

"Very well,"

"Now then," Rin said, already turning away to regard the surrounding foyer. "We'll have to fix up the school first…might as well start here."

Kirei looked on with a measuring expression as Rin pulled out gems to begin repairing the foyer, while nearby Sakura was rearranging her alchemy kit and putting the other samples into storage for transport. Minutes ticked by unnoticed as Rin spent her gems and muttered spells in German, sealing cracks and restoring the paintwork, and then began pulling the furniture back together.

It was then that she noticed that Sakura had finished whatever it was she had been doing, and was now watching intently. "Is there something you need?" she asked.

Sakura smiled, and walked over to another broken piece of furniture. "Not anymore," she said, fishing in a pocket and smiling at Rin. "Thanks for the demonstration though."

And then she pulled out a gemstone of her own, and spoke several words in Russian. The gem in her hand flashed, and then the furniture before her pulled itself back together. Rin gaped at the sight, before she narrowed her eyes in realization.

"Oh Sakura, you are so full of…!" she said before reeling herself in, unable to decide whether to feel insulted or impressed at Sakura reverse-engineering Tohsaka Jewel Magecraft. Or indeed, _both_. "Seriously, you figured it out from just one demonstration of sorts?"

"Of course not." Sakura snorted. "I'm not that smart. But the ribbon was a big help, and the rest was just good old-fashioned trial and error."

"What ribbon…oh! _That_ ribbon! But that means…!"

"Yup!" Sakura said with a grin. "Been working on it for a long time now."

Rin snorted, and then she couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. Kirei raised an eyebrow at the sight. "This is no laughing matter." He said. "Allies or not, the Matou now have access to Tohsaka Jewel Magecraft, no, in fact they've admitted to deliberately working to unlock its secrets."

Rin waved him off. "Normally I'd be issuing a challenge over that," she said. "But these are far from normal circumstances. In particular, why would I challenge _my sister_ for learning about her birthright? On the contrary, I should be congratulating her, for having uncovered and grown adept at the basics with such minimum resources at her disposal."

"Your father would disagree."

Rin shot Kirei a venomous glare. "I disagreed with losing my sister at the time." She said. "He ignored me. And now it's my turn to ignore his…displeasure."

"That is different."

"In what way?"

"The decision was made to ensure you both would have equal chances at reaching your full potential." Kirei said. "With that in mind, and taking into consideration magi traditions, there was nothing disagreeable with his decision. Your opinion was also not only incorrect, but irrelevant at the time. You were after all, only six-years old. In contrast, this matter at present weakens Tohsaka, as Matou would be gaining at your expense, and is also against magi traditions."

Sakura snorted at that. "Is that it?" she said with a sneer. "Fine then, I'll just send big sis a book on the basics of Matou absorption magecraft."

"No need." Rin said, before drawing herself up and staring down Kirei. " _I_ am the Tohsaka magus and head of family now. _I_ decide who is allowed to learn our secrets. _I_ decide Sakura having possession of her birthright is fully acceptable to me and my family. That is the end of the matter."

Kirei looked peevish, while Sakura laughed. "And I'd add to that," she began. "If Uncle Tohsaka has a problem, then he can suck eggs for all I care."

"You should not talk so ill of your father, little one."

"He is not my father."

"The blood in your veins say otherwise."

Sakura scoffed before ticking off her fingers. "First, he literally disowned me and stripped me of his name when he had Matou adopt me." She began. "Second, all legal documents up to and including my own birth certificate were altered at his behest to make it appear as though I had always been of the Matou Clan. Third, he did not raise me. Not really: out of my twelve years of life, seven – more than _half_ – had me under the care of Kariya Matou, who is _my_ father. In that light, what does it matter if Uncle Tohsaka sired me?"

"Then you should not claim Rin Tohsaka as your sister, as she is the child of Tokiomi Tohsaka."

Sakura scoffed again, as did Rin. "You have no right to say that!" Rin snarled. "That's not your decision to make!"

"And who in your opinion has the right to decide?"

"Myself and my mother." Rin snapped.

"And my mother never disowned me." Sakura added. "Also, the legal documents all state Aoi Tohsaka nee Zenjou as my mother. Finally, she raised me for all my twelve years."

Rin and Sakura glanced at each other, and then placing arms around each other's shoulders, smiled matching, mocking, catlike smiles at Kirei. "We're already seen and known as half-sisters in public," Rin began.

"But we can live with that." Sakura concluded.

"We have the same mother, after all." They said together. "And that's the important part."

Kirei sighed, and pinched his nose. "Very well," he said. "If I cannot dissuade you of this foolishness then so be it. I will say no more."

Rin and Sakura looked at each other, and then Sakura smiled while walking over to the suitcase she'd brought with her. "Want to see some Matou magecraft, big sis?" she asked. "Fair is fair."

"Sure, let's see it."

Sakura grinned, pulling out what looked like a medieval shield. Strapping it onto an arm, she faced it towards a set of broken windows, and approached while speaking an aria in Russian. The window pulled itself back together…

…while the leather padding – and part of the wood beneath – on the shield tore themselves apart.

"Oh wow…" Rin said, sounding genuinely impressed. "Now that was a neat trick, I'll have to figure it out when I have the time."

Sakura grinned, and Kirei sighed and pinched his nose again.

* * *

A/N

So we go into the aftermath, with a shell-shocked Shirou having to deal with the discovery his dad was an assassin, and how the experiences of his past twisted his dream of becoming a Hero of Justice into the bloodstained Path of Least Bloodshed. I know Shirou's acting a bit OOC in this chapter, but remember: it's only been a few months since Kiri died. Right now, he's subconsciously fixated on the best he knew and could remember of his father, and thus the darker aspects of Kiri's past can be a bit…difficult, to accept for him.

He'll adapt/bounce back eventually, though. He is still Shirou Emiya, after all. He always bounces back.

Kirei makes his appearance…and is not enjoying himself. Too bad.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 11

Darkness…and then light, a circle of it in the middle of a dark space with seemingly-endless breadth. And then more light, illuminating an abstract painting sitting on a pedestal standing a short distance from the circle of light.

"You have failed." An obscured voice said accusingly.

More light illuminated an abstract sculpture sitting on another pedestal standing a short distance from the circle of light. "I did." Another obscured voice admitted. "The Second Owner's interference was not foreseen, given infiltration, corrections, and withdrawals were all successfully conducted without drawing either suspicion nor attention. It was pure oversight that the Second Owner's presence in the same school as the Emiya boy was not taken into account."

"Certainly," the first voice began. "The operation would have succeeded had the Second Owner not interfered. This must be something to be taken account in the future, otherwise rightful vengeance against the Magus Killer will never be reality."

More light again illuminated an antique radio, also sitting on a pedestal standing a short distance from the circle of light, the three representations of the speakers forming a triangle between them. "I would caution against direct action against the Second Owner." A third, obscured voice spoke. "Fuyuki may be an insignificant backwater, but she remains the ranking Association representative within the territory. Furthermore, her lineage is an acknowledged beneficiary of the Wizard Marshal. At the very least, the Association will hold a full investigation, and until recovery of our losses inflicted by the Magus Killer's past actions can be completed, it would be unwise to advertise our recovery too openly."

"A prudent call." The first voice conceded.

"What do you suggest then?" the second voice asked.

"A warning," the third voice answered. "The Second Owner's younger sister has inherited the Matou name and magecraft. Therefore, in the eyes of the Association a strike against her would not be considered a strike against the Second Owner."

"Her death may galvanize the Second Owner against us." The second voice opined.

"Then her death should be avoided." The first voice said. "Serious injury, crippling, or some variation thereof, would serve to drive the message home, and also avoid hardening the Second Owner's opinions against us. Despite being considered to be a born prodigy, she is still but a child. She lacks resolve, at least for now. Her sister's suffering should be sufficient to convince her to retreat and prioritize her own self-preservation."

"That is true." The second voice agreed. "What of the Emiya boy, however?"

"That is your responsibility." The first voice said. "Take into account recent developments, and continue with pursuing the goal of his death, and with it, the end of the Emiya name. In the meantime, I shall continue with regard to my responsibilities concerning the Magus Killer's biological daughter, a more difficult task by several degrees of magnitude, considering her protected location within Castle Einzbern."

"Understood." The second voice said.

"Then I shall take up the task of sending a message to the Second Owner, a message she will neither forget nor ignore." The third voice said. "Indeed, I shall do so in person, to guarantee success."

"So be it then." The first voice said.

"I am in favor as well." The second voice agreed.

"Then if there is nothing more," the third voice said. "Let us adjourn, for we have much work ahead of us."

"Very well."

"So be it."

The lights died, and only darkness and silence were left.

* * *

Clasps made from stainless steel closed shut with tiny clipping sounds, and Sakura smiled as he little sisters happily giggled and wordlessly babbled at her, all the while waving their arms and looking with childish awe at the charms she'd placed around their wrists. "What did you give them, Sakura?" Aoi asked.

"Charms," Sakura said with a shrug. "They're actual Ancient Egyptian charms, dedicated to the crocodile god, Sobek. Egyptian mothers gave them to their children to protect them from harm, so…I guess I went too far, huh?"

Aoi shook her head, and to Sakura's surprise pulled her close and embraced her from behind. "Your heart's in the right place." Aoi said. "And it's not really something that needs asking permission for."

"…thanks mom."

Aoi tightened her embrace on her second child, kissing Sakura on top of her head. Not for the first time, resentment bubbled against her late husband for just giving Sakura away without even asking about Aoi's opinion, and simply expecting her to obey without question and follow his lead. And not for the first time, she didn't feel any guilt for it. Not after all the pain and grief of that year and more without being able to see her, without knowing if she was alright or if she was being treated well…

…and the indescribable relief and joy on seeing Sakura return to her life. Not completely, for she was still the Matou heiress, but she could bear it now, knowing from Sakura herself that she was doing well, and knowing that her best friend was raising her as his own child.

 _Kariya…_

Aoi's eyes softened at thought of her best friend, who in hindsight had always been there for her ever since they were children, and had even stood aside despite his feelings for her when she'd been engaged to Tokiomi, thinking no doubt that she'd be happier with him. He hadn't been completely wrong, as she'd loved Tokiomi in a way, and she would never regret the two children he'd given her…

…but he'd also discarded one of them as useless to a magus like him, giving her away like some collectible card like those which children played with, and shown that while he had loved her in his own way, ultimately their marriage had been one of convenience. A means for him to secure his lineage, his legacy, an heir to carry on his work, and everything else, even the love he had for her, had been a matter of duty. Nothing more and nothing else.

Even his own death was just something expected and to be held as an example for how a magus lived and died…

…Aoi could only feel bitterness at such callous and heartless expectations, especially as Tokiomi had expected the same of his children.

Kariya though…he truly loved her, and in hindsight Aoi knew she had been a fool to take it for granted. Never again…not when he'd given her even more children to cherish, not for the sake of duty or to secure his legacy and lineage, but simply because he loved her, and she loved him.

Aoi smiled at the lack of guilt that came with admitting it, and not for the first time. And she knew neither of her older children minded. To be sure, Rin still honored her father's memory, but if her mother was happy, then that was all that mattered here and now.

As for Sakura…well, she'd never really hidden her resentment at Tokiomi giving her away, and Aoi had never really disagreed, nor tried to persuade her otherwise. She was perfectly in the right to feel that way, and as for Aoi herself…

…well, Tokiomi was dead and gone, and had been for a long time. She'd done her duty as his wife, and had earned the right to focus on her happiness here and now.

Aoi blinked as Sakura took her hand, and placed an amulet shaped like an eye surrounded by flowing lines. "What's this?" Aoi asked.

"Eye of Horus," Sakura answered, snuggling up to her mother. "To protect you against the evil eye and misfortune."

Aoi stared at her daughter for a moment, and then smiling, slid the Eye of Horus around her neck. "Thank you, Sakura." She said.

"You're welcome, mom."

" _Yes,_ " Aoi thought, as the twins clamored for her to show attention to them as much as she did to their older sister. " _I have no regrets with my choices over the past years. Everything is just right._ "

* * *

"How are you doing?"

"Better," Shirou answered, as Rin sat down opposite from him across his living room table.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I really am." Shirou said with a nod, though he did give a sigh afterwards. "In hindsight, I guess dad had to learn from somewhere about everything he told me. And about everything he wanted to teach me…"

"Experience is the best teacher."

"And dad had plenty of bad experiences to teach him a lot of things." Shirou said with another sigh. "But I don't blame him for not telling me. Sometimes…you just have to let go. And that was his way of letting go. All that blood on his hands…the regrets holding him back…it had to end with him. He wouldn't have…he never wanted me to pick it all up from him, and I understand why. I'd have done the same thing in his place."

"…but?"

Shirou took a deep breath. "Dad chose the wrong methods." He said. "He managed to teach me that much at least. And with everything you've told me that he told you about himself…I know what _not_ to do. But his ideals…his dream…they weren't wrong. They couldn't have been."

 _When I was a child, I dreamed of being a Hero of Justice._

Shirou closed his eyes, remembering the cold and the bone-crushing weariness, and saw once more that desperate, joyful smile in the rain. " _I'll make your dream come true in your place, dad._ " Shirou thought. " _I promised you that before you died, and I never break my promises. Just watch and see. I'll make it come true, no matter what, and I'll do it right._ "

"So what now?" Rin asked.

Shirou opened his eyes. "Funnily enough," he said with a chuckle. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

Rin sighed and thought for a few moments. "Alright," she said. "As we've already discussed, it's likely that the previous attack was the work of someone with a grudge against your father, and who decided to take it out on you now that he's dead. And while your dad did say he wanted you to live a peaceful life…I don't think that's completely possible now. These guys at least – whoever they are – will probably keep on gunning for you until either you or they are dead. In the future…well, we can hope."

Shirou nodded. "Yes." He said. "We can hope. I'm certainly hoping no one else will go after me for something dad did in the past. Not just because I don't want to die, but also for them as well."

"What?"

"Revenge doesn't solve anything, does it?" Shirou asked.

"…no, it doesn't." Rin agreed. "That was surprisingly wise of you."

Shirou shrugged with a smile. "I read a bit." He said.

"That's good." Rin said with a nod. "Anyway, going back to the main topic…I'm not really qualified to take a proper apprentice right now, not when I'm still training to be a magus. But…from what you and your dad told me, you need to step up your training too, not that it's really either of your fault."

"So what are you suggesting?"

"I'm saying that while I can't take you as an apprentice – it'd be unfair for both of us since I can't really shoulder that responsibility right now – I can teach you some things to widen your skills," Rin said with a smile. "And patch up holes in your training. Not an apprentice…but a student…I think I can handle that much responsibility."

Shirou nodded slowly. "Sounds good," he said with a smile. "Where and when do we start?"

Rin blinked and then laughed. "Eager, aren't we?" she asked. "Alright…we can start right now, in fact. And first of all, why don't you tell me what you can do, and later on show me, so I know where we should start."

Shirou laughed and nodded. "Sounds like a good way to start." He said. "Alright…"

Taking a deep breath, Shirou began to explain what he could do, and Rin listened.

* * *

Months passed. Sakura finished elementary, moved on to middle school, and as expected enrolled in the same school Rin (and Shirou and Shinji) were in. They themselves advanced by one grade. No matter the potential threat hanging over them, life still went on.

"How on Earth did you manage to convince Ryuudo and the council to support this?" Rin asked.

She and her sister were on the rooftop, leaning against the rails and enjoying the breeze during morning break. Sakura shrugged, and then turned to rest her back against the railing. "Ryuudo-senpai was opposed." She admitted. "So were a few others. But the council operates by majority vote."

"So you just needed to convince half and one more of the council, huh?"

"Pretty much." Sakura said with a shrug. "I dropped…references, to mom and her leading role in the PTA. Also agreed that we'd only get a small share in the budget for clubs…"

"…let me guess," Rin said deadpan. "You're going to make up the difference on your own."

"The Matou Clan is rich." Sakura said with a laugh. "About time I start getting some benefits out of that."

"Oh you!"

The sisters shared a laugh afterwards. "In all seriousness though," Sakura said. "It was Yuzuki-sensei who carried the day. She said that clubs were meant to allow students to socialize and explore their creativity, and since my proposal showed a few students – apart from myself of course – were interested in joining, then we at least deserved a chance. We'd be on provisional basis for the first few months, though if we keep our grades up until the end of that period, we'd be allowed to operate as a 'regular' club."

"Makes sense." Rin said with a nod. "Though considering Ryuudo's tendency to be…well, a stick in the mud, plus his own bias for academic clubs against athletic or purely creative or social ones…not surprised he was opposed to the end. I am surprised though that he forgot all about last year's confrontation with the PTA."

"If I remember right it was about that same bias, right?" Sakura asked, and Rin nodded. "I guess he probably thinks he can push the matter some, as the PTA technically has no real authority. When it comes to influence though…well, we'll see how long he lasts."

"Ryuudo's not stupid, I have to admit that much." Rin said with a shake of his head. "He'll push as much as he can, but he won't set off another confrontation with the PTA like the last council president did."

"I'll take your word for it."

Rin grinned and shook her head. "Anyway," she said. "Black magic club seems pretty straightforward, but seriously, what do you plan to do in there? I seriously doubt you'd actually be doing real magic."

"Maybe a little behind the scenes." Sakura said with a wink.

"Sakura!"

Sakura laughed, and then leaned in to whisper into Rin's ear. "I'll just say they're from old family recipes." She said with another wink. "That should keep them from prying too much."

Rin laughed and shook her head. "You little sneak." She said.

"Apart from that," Sakura said while looking up into the sky. "We'll probably just follow the stereotype. You know…fortunetelling, sleight of hand and flashy tricks…oh, and explore the historical and cultural impact and context of the arcane. Wizards and witches in history, legend and myth, popular fictions…things like that and their impact."

Sakura shrugged. "Not just to satisfy the…requirements, for a club to have meaningful contributions to the education of its members." She said. "That part of magic is important too for magi."

"It is." Rin agreed with a nod. "Properly edited, of course."

"Of course." Sakura nodded. "I know what I'm doing, big sis."

"Yes, I know you are."

* * *

Sakura was walking home from school when she came to a halt. Ever since she'd left school she'd had this nagging feeling at the back of her head, as though someone or something was watching her, and now it abruptly spiked.

With narrow eyes she looked up and down the empty street, her body tensing as though in preparation. The breeze picked, billowing her cloak around her, the exact same style worn by her sister only dyed in her preferred colors: black, held in place with gold thread, in contrast to her sister's red and silver.

" _Wow, it's just like in a Western._ " SAKURA remarked.

" _So not the time._ " Sakura shot back.

And then they appeared, more of the monsters that had attacked Shirou months ago, coming around the corners on both sides of the street and boxing her in. They roared at her, as though expecting her to panic, and try to run their cordon.

Well…she was planning on doing the latter anyway. Panicking though…

" _If they want a fight, then let's give them one!_ " SAKURA said.

" _No._ " Sakura countered. " _Whoever these guys are, they're smart. By going after me, they're sending a warning to big sister, not to interfere in their revenge against Mister Emiya by going after his son. And it also means they're probably watching._ "

" _Yeah, so?_ "

" _Let's not show our hand just yet._ "

" _Huh…good point. Fine, you handle this Sakura. You're better at fighting smart than I am. Just make sure to kick their asses._ "

" _I'll do more than kick their asses._ " Sakura thought while reinforcing her body. And then she leapt forward, the monsters roaring and closing in on her from front and back.

Prana surged and concrete and asphalt flowed, the road distorting as Sakura simultaneously altered and reinforced it. Concrete spikes lashed out at the speed of thought, and impaling the monsters charging from the rear. Smaller spikes extended sideways, and the dying monsters were all but torn apart.

Sakura dodged a swipe of one's claws, dived beneath another, and rolling forward ran a hand over the ground. Concrete arms ending in fists shot up from the distorting road, and struck the monsters with bone-breaking force. They fell, howling in pain, howls which then turned to panic and fear as Sakura literally entombed them within the concrete, which flowed over them and their dead fellows further up the road, and hid them from sight.

"Next." She said…

…and then there was a shunting sensation, as SAKURA took control. Twisting around and back, she caught a series of…iron-like, projectiles streaking towards her back, and then turning full circle threw them back. " _Thanks._ " Sakura said.

" _Don't thank me yet._ " SAKURA shot back. " _There's more!_ "

More of the projectiles came flying, and SAKURA dropped to dodge. Then Sakura retook control, altering a concrete wall up around her and then reinforcing it. And even then, the concrete began to crack. " _That's not going to last much longer._ " SAKURA observed.

"I know." Sakura said.

And then she dropped through a hole in the road, and into a service tunnel beneath. " _I don't think this is a good idea._ " SAKURA said. " _Too little space…_ "

" _I know._ " Sakura said, running down the tunnel, and then around a corner. " _But it should disorient them for a bit. And I have a plan now._ "

" _Really?_ "

" _Yes._ "

Sakura reached out across the city, to her various familiars, murders of crows and flocks of other birds moving at her command. Meanwhile Sakura ran through half-lit tunnels, and approached an access ladder reaching to the surface. Instead of climbing it, she made her own way up through a wall, and altering the ground beneath her rose up through the road while constantly altering her surroundings.

The monsters were caught by surprise when Sakura literally rose out of the ground a short distance away, and throwing a gem sent them flying. Running away, Sakura threw more gems, killing the survivors before jumping up onto an electric post. And from there to another, and then another, leapfrogging over the suburbs towards a park in the distance.

The iron-like projectiles from before came flying, Sakura dodging in midair to land catlike on the ground. Again, concrete shifted and arms ending with fists lanced out with enough force to crush bone.

Monsters howled in agony…

…but a black man in a suit was simply staggered by the blow, forced out of cover before glaring at Sakura and brushing broken dust and concrete off his suit. Sakura didn't mince words, instead simply trying to impale him with a concrete spike.

The spike struck him between the legs…

…and simply broke.

" _Brass ones!_ " SAKURA joked.

" _So not the time!_ " Sakura snapped.

The man held a palm out towards Sakura, his arms and hand morphing into something that looked like those of the monsters, only encased with metallic yet organic armor plating. An orifice opened in his palm, which shot out the projectiles from before.

Sakura again caught them in midair, and threw them back. They struck the man in the chest…

…and simply sank back into his body. He then fired some more, Sakura dodging down to place both hands on the ground. The man then looked surprised as the ground beneath suddenly sank, two great slabs of concrete rising up on either side of him. Sakura clapped her hands, and then they crushed him simultaneously.

At least, that was the idea. The reinforced concrete simply broke, the man striding forward with an annoyed expression on his face. "You simply delay the inevitable, child." He said.

"In the grand scheme of things, aren't we all?" Sakura replied deadpan, and threw a gem his way before turning to run.

The resulting explosion shook the air and ground alike, and while leapfrogging from one electric post to another, Sakura chanced a glance behind her over a shoulder. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw him stumble out of the smoke alive, and then narrowed in disgust to see that while damage to his body was superficial at best, his clothes had been blown clean off.

The man spat and glared in Sakura's direction, and then throwing back his head howled. The howl turned bestial and inhuman in the middle, as the man's flesh twisted and grew in bulk, armor plating sprouting, growing, and merging together, claws extending and his head turning into a cross between a reptile and a dog. Howling again, the resulting monster leapt after Sakura.

" _Did you see that?_ " Sakura said.

" _Yeah, I saw it._ " SAKURA answered. " _Bastard tanks a gem that would have leveled a building. Any bright ideas?_ "

" _…I have one. I'll need time to set it up though._ "

" _I'm guessing that's what the birds are for, then._ "

" _Yup._ "

On and on they came, flocks and murders, beating their wings as they flew through the sky, and then folding them, dived down. Magic circles appeared at the tips of their beaks, the moisture in the air being pulled in and then flash-frozen, launched at hypersonic speeds. The shockwaves of the sound barrier being broken repeatedly and so close to each other shook the air, only reinforcements keeping the familiars from being torn apart.

The hypersonic projectiles of ice rained down as the familiar launched their strafing runs, and struck divots from the pavement. Monsters fell, crying out and howling in pain as they were torn apart, but the alpha simply howled in defiance, even hypersonic rounds only able to strike sparks from his armor.

" _That thing is a living tank!_ " Sakura thought in alarm.

" _I think it's time for desperate measures._ " SAKURA observed.

" _But that's…_ "

" _They're familiars._ " SAKURA coldly responded to her other self's reluctance. " _They exist to serve. If you die, they die. And meaningless deaths at that, too. Now, why don't you change that? And you can always make more later on._ "

" _…damn it…commence kamikaze runs against the enemy alpha._ "

" _Good girl._ "

The familiars obeyed as commanded, triggering alchemical reactions within that turned their fluids into liquid explosive set to detonate on reacting with oxygen. Shutting down their respiratory systems, the familiars dove down, operating solely on their maker's prana, and rammed the alpha. Their bodies flew apart on impact, and then exploded as their alchemically-altered blood reacted with the oxygen in the air.

Bestial howls of frustration could be heard as familiars launched suicide run after suicide run, buying time for their maker to reach her destination, a large park in the suburb. " _What are you planning, Sakura?_ " SAKURA asked as she carved a circle into the ground, followed by a pentagram within.

" _Long story short,_ " Sakura answered while inserting five gems – one each for the five elements – into the circle. " _Let's see if that monster can take it all._ "

Familiars flew down, and positioned themselves into an array around the park. " _This is an absorption matrix._ " SAKURA realized. " _I see…so that's what's you're planning._ "

" _Most magi are stupidly overspecialized._ " Sakura answered. " _They only focus on one thing and one thing alone. Context-wise it makes sense, as the goal of most magi is to perfect that one thing to the point it can open them a path to the Root. But I'm not like most magi._ "

" _No, we definitely are not._ " SAKURA said with a mental grin. " _Whether it's Tohsaka Jewel Magecraft and Matou Absorption Magecraft, it's all ours!_ "

"My thoughts exactly." Sakura said as the monster finally arrived at the park. Howling and roaring, it beat its scarred chest and charged at her, Sakura crushing gems in her hands and firing off a beam of ravening light that struck the monster head on.

Crossing its arms, it tanked the force of the beam, and then slowly but steadily, step by step, approached Sakura. " _Timing will be critical._ " She thought. " _It's all on you, my other self!_ "

SAKURA grinned as she took over. "Just leave it to me, partner!" she said, and then as the beam expended its power, simultaneously jumped out of the circle and shouted. "NOW!"

The familiars around the park remotely actualized several spells, carving a larger circle around the park, joined by five, trailing lines carved into the ground to the central circle. Twenty-five familiars sacrificed themselves in groups of five at five points around the outer circle, where the lines started towards the center.

The lines flashed a dark, ugly red as they absorbed vast amounts of mana in the air, and hurled it all into the central circle. The gems buried into the ground focused and catalyzed the magical energy, and released it, much like how fuel from a large tank would be channeled and focused by pipes and valves before being ignited by a pilot light, whether into a stove burner or a flamethrower.

In this case, it was the latter, the monster howling in agony as it stood in the circle, engulfed by a blinding beam of magical energy that shot up high into the sky.

"Game set," SAKURA breathed with a grin, lying down on the ground to enjoy the light show.

"And match." Sakura finished, grinning as she too enjoyed the show.

* * *

A/N

Hello, hello, hello, I am back. The arc continues, albeit after a short time-skip, with Sakura finishing elementary to finally join her older relatives in middle school, and the ones with a grudge against Kiri try to go after her to get to Rin. Too bad Sakura's as much of a genius as Rin is.

We also get some character development, with more on how Aoi's perspectives have changed after a decade of being in charge of the Tohsaka household without Tokiomi bossing her – no doubt in his insufferable, soft-spoken, ever oh-so-refined manner – around, to say nothing of having her daughters bouncing around plus an affair with her childhood friend. Tokiomi's rolling in his grave no doubt…


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 12

"How on Earth are you still alive?"

Sakura knelt on the ground, her body tense and ready to strike or bolt. A good distance before her, her enemy was on all fours on the ground, his body heaving with wet and heavy breathing. Steam rose in thick wisps from his skin, or rather what lay beneath it, all skin and hair turned to ash and scorching the…man's, supernaturally-grown armor to the color of burnt metal.

Every so often the man would make hacking coughs, and then spit out blood, ichor, and clumps of dead flesh. And then shaking from exertion, the man raised himself to one knee, bloodshot eyes glaring at Sakura.

Sakura would have quailed. SAKURA did not. She was death incarnate, and death feared nothing, not even itself.

"You…you…you…" the man growled in a rousing voice before giving a feral howl. "YOU LITTLE BRAT! YOU THINK SOMETHING LIKE THIS CAN KILL ME? DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I AM RICHARD VAN DYKE, ONE OF THE THREE WISE MEN OF THE VAN DYKE FAMILY! A BRAT LIKE YOU FROM THIS BACKWATER PISSHOLE OF A COUNTRY IS NOTHING AGAINST ME! NOTHING, YOU HEAR ME! HOW DARE YOU STAND AGAINST ME? HOW DARE YOU STAND AGAINST OUR RIGHTEOUS VENGEANCE AGAINST THE DOGS OF EMIYA! YOU WILL…!"

" _…абсорбировать._ " SAKURA said while holding out a hand.

Richard van Dyke abruptly collapsed to the ground, with a shriek of pain, as SAKURA absorbed all the heat in the air around him. The air then proceeded to draw in the heat of his body, already superheated by Sakura's magical attack, the abrupt drop in temperature causing violent contractions that visibly tore at his body, his armor shattering with audible sounds of tearing metal.

To his credit, Richard didn't stay down for long, and looked up at SAKURA…

…who then threw the absorbed heat back at him in the form of a laser fired from a finger. Richard tried to dodge, the beam instead shearing through his neck and sending blood spouting in a jet of crimson.

Again, the man reeled, while Sakura retook control. "I see." She said with narrowed eyes. "So that's what your family is capable of. And using your magecraft, you turn your own flesh into armor…more importantly…it looks like to kill you I'll need to deal critical damage in a single strike."

At that, Sakura drove nephrite into the ground, the gem shattering with a flash of light. Prana flowed through the earth, transmuting carbon into black diamond spines that shot up, aimed at the cracks and rents in Richard's armor, and punching deep, extended long barbs outwards to further escalate the damage and pin him in place.

Then Sakura crushed a pearl in her other hand, again fusing Matou magecraft seamlessly with Tohsaka magecraft, and paralyzing Richard by absorbing his prana and potential-kinetic energy through the spines holding him in place. Sakura then held out a moonstone, and spoke a word.

" _…твист._ "

The gem flashed as atmospheric moisture collected around the gem and froze into a core of ice. More moisture flash-froze on said core, growing outwards until Sakura held a sword of ice in her hand. " _Резкость._ " She said, the blade audibly humming as it vibrated at high speed, shaking off its edge to monomolecular sharpness.

And then taking a _kendo_ stance, Sakura centered herself, and then yelling a traditional battle cry, charged forward. Richard's bloodshot eyes widened, and then growling with rage, frustration, and disbelief, struggled to free and/or harden himself, to no effect.

"NO!" he shouted. "THIS CANNOT BE! I'M ONE OF THE THREE WISE MEN! I CAN'T…!"

Sakura raised her sword high, and then swung down two-handed. Richard was split in two, from where his left shoulder met his neck, down to the groin. Blood erupted in a great shower of crimson, the dying magus babbling in Dutch. And from what little she could understand, Sakura caught references to a 'mother' and asking for her forgiveness.

As someone who cherished her own mother, Sakura could be sympathetic. She should be.

She wasn't. Not when her enemy had tried to kill her…and take her from her mother…and all as part of some vengeance trip against her friend Shirou.

No…she had no sympathy at all. If anything, she just wanted to make this as final as possible.

Reaching down, she grabbed the dying Richard by the chin, and shoved a diamond into his mouth as her eyes flashed. "You are terminated!" she snarled, before leaping back, flipping through the air to land in a crouch a safe distance away as the gem exploded, and killed Richard van Dyke once and for all.

" _Terminator…really?_ " SAKURA asked.

Sakura scoffed as she got to her feet, and examined her dirt and bloodstained self with some exasperation. " _Yeah right,_ " she answered her other self. " _Admit it: you thought it was cool._ "

" _…okay, I'll admit it. It was cool._ "

Sakura only grinned in response, before sending out mental commands for her familiars to clean up the traces of the battle. As for herself, she decided to go home. She needed to clean up, and meet with other people of interest in this matter.

* * *

"Sakura what the hell…?"

"Relax, it's not mine." Sakura answered her cousin's panicked questions as she crossed the Matou mansion's foyer. "Some crazy magus decided to go after me on the way back from school. I…got a bit, physical, so…yeah, as you can see…"

"Physical?" Shinji echoed, an eye twitching. "Physical, you say? Sakura, you're covered in blood! Like you took a bath in the stuff!"

Sakura looked at herself in disgust. "Yeah, I know." She said. "I guess there goes this uniform. Anyway, we have a lot to talk about. Can you call dad and uncle and mom and Rin? Maybe even Shirou too, this concerns him too."

Shinji blinked at the mention of Shirou, and then narrowed his eyes. "So this involves his dad's history, huh?" he asked. "Alright, I'll do that. What will you do, though?"

Sakura made a face. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "I'm going to take a bath."

An hour later and Sakura was coming down, her hair still damp…and was promptly pulled into a worried embrace by her mother the moment she entered the sitting room. "Mom, I'm fine seriously." Sakura said, as Aoi fussed over her. "The guy never actually touched me. The only reason I got blood all over me was because I _really_ had to make sure the guy was dead."

"Did you have to kill him though?" Shirou asked from the table. "I mean…yeah, it was a battle between magi, but even so…if you could have ended it without killing anyone, you should have done so."

"…maybe." Sakura conceded as she walked over. "But we can't change anything that's already been done. Let's move on."

Shirou looked uncomfortable, as did Aoi, but the other adults – and Rin – grimly nodded in agreement. "Did you find out anything useful?" Byakuya asked, sitting at a nearby table with a large roll sitting in front of him.

"Yes." Sakura said with a nod. "I've confirmed that the family behind this attack and the previous one are after Shirou. Looks like your dad really pissed them off, Shirou."

"If they're after me, then why'd they go after you this time?" Shirou asked.

Sakura looked at Rin. "Because Rin helped you the last time." She said. "And by going after me, they want to send a warning to her. I'm guessing they don't want to tangle with a Second Owner and risk stirring up more trouble than they can handle…"

"I don't care about that." Rin coldly interrupted, her face twisting into a hateful mask. "They went after my little sister, and they're not going to get away with it."

Sakura hummed but said nothing, just smiling and raising an eyebrow. "Did they say who they were?" Rin asked.

"He said he was of the van Dyke family, one of three so-called 'Wise Men'."

"Vay Dyke…" Rin echoed. "Van Dyke…I think…yes, Kirei mentioned them among a list of suspects from last year's attack. I can't remember the details of their mysteries, but I do remember they did have a pretty nasty reputation…at least up until Kiritsugu Emiya destroyed their crest and killed their family head. I'll need to check the details but…yeah, it all makes sense now."

"More importantly," Byakuya said with a sigh. "Now that Sakura has killed one of their elders – if that title of his is any indication – we're probably on their shit list. Probably even more so than Tohsaka, who's only helped Emiya, with whom we're probably on the same level now."

"What are you saying, Byakuya?" Kariya asked.

"We need to be prepared." Byakuya said while getting to his feet, and then unrolling the roll in front of him. Jaws dropped as everyone saw what was inside: guns, lots of guns.

"Is that a Tommy Gun?" Kariya asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"How and where did you get a Tommy Gun?"

"Ask no questions and I'll tell you no lies." Byakuya answered while bringing up a toolbox. And then opening it up, picked up the Tommy Gun and began to disassemble it.

"No offense Uncle Byakuya," Rin delicately began. "But don't you think it's…unusual, for a magus to use guns?"

"Yes…if I were a magus." Byakuya answered. "But I'm not. I'm a spell-caster. So is my brother, and so is my niece. And we all live happier lives for it, just treating magic as a useful if dangerous tool, instead of something wonderful and something to be cherished for its own sake. You might want to consider converting to our way of thinking."

Rin looked like she'd swallowed a lemon whole, and after a bit Aoi patted her comfortingly on a hand. "Maybe when she's older." Sakura said with a smile. "More importantly uncle, what kind of guns do you have?"

"Ah, that's a good niece!" Byakuya said with a grin. "First, this is a Tommy Gun, or more properly it's a Thompson Submachine Gun. First produced in 1921, this model I have was made in 1932. The stock and grip as you can see are made from wood, and the rest machined steel. It uses a drum magazine, either with fifty or one hundred rounds, .45 ACP Hollow Points. While it can fire up to six hundred rounds per minute, firing for too long on full-auto will cause problems with aim, so best to fire in bursts."

Sakura whistled, while both Shinji and Shirou were all but salivating, the two fourteen-year old boys dreaming of themselves dressed like mobsters in a 1930s film and going around with Tommy Guns. Offended, Rin stepped down on Shirou's foot, and causing the boy to yelp in pain as he was jolted out of his fantasy.

"And the shotguns?" Sakura asked.

Byakuya put down his Tommy Gun, and then picked up one of his two shotguns. "Winchester Model 1901," he said. "10-gauge, lever-action shotgun. Not bad at long-range with the right slugs, but best used for close encounters. Using buckshot, and you can end a fight with just one shot. Oh, and this is the gun used by the Terminator, by the way."

Byakuya winked, Sakura blinking as she heard SAKURA complaining about Terminator references, while Shinji and Shirou were salivating…and the latter yelping as Rin again stepped on his foot. Sighing, Aoi took Rin's head and began to gently stroke it.

"Then we have M1911A1 pistols," Byakuya said, putting down the shotgun, and picking up one of the pistols. "I have two. Fairly generic, but reliable and solid, firing .45 ACP Hollow Points. You can't go wrong with these if you're cornered and you don't have time or space to pull out a shotgun from behind you."

"And the cowboy gun?" Shinji asked.

"Ah!" Byakuya said with a grin. "Yes, cowboy gun…accurate enough…Colt Single Action Army. Second-generation, unfortunately, so it's not _really_ a cowboy gun, but it was based on the real ones, and does look like it. The child of them, you could say. Six-rounds, firing .45 Colt Hollow Points. A last-resort weapon, and if you die, you get to die in style."

Shinji raised a hand. "Can I have a gun?" he asked.

"No."

"No!"

"No!"

The three adults looked at each other in surprise. And then Byakuya coughed, before pulling out a book and tossing it to his son. Shinji caught it, and raised his eyebrows at the title: One Hundred and One Rules You Need to Know About Gun Safety.

"Read that, and we'll talk again." Byakuya said.

"Can I have a gun too?" Sakura asked.

"No!" her parents said firmly and sharply, and with a pout Sakura subsided. Kariya then glared at his brother.

"Are you really going to give Shinji a gun?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

Byakuya looked at his brother flatly. "Unlike you or even me," he said. "Shinji has no ability to fight magi. Not on his own. So I refuse to let him go around without at least a fighting chance."

"…Sakura or Rin can just give him mystic codes to protect himself with."

"That's only good for defense." Byakuya countered. "Defense alone isn't going to cut it. And magi don't usually expect guns pointed at them. Between a defensive mystic code and a gun, he'll have a better chance."

Kariya didn't know what to say at that. "Don't worry," Byakuya added after a moment. "I don't plan to give him a gun without teaching him about gun safety first. Hence that book."

"Aren't guns illegal though?" Aoi protested.

"They are." Byakuya admitted. "But given our situation, we're going to have to bend the rules."

Aoi unhappily looked away at that. "I suppose…" she grudgingly admitted.

"You should probably get a gun yourself, Kariya." Byakuya said. "A hold-out weapon, just in case. Don't forget: you're a father now, and a potential target. You wouldn't want your little girls to grow up without a father in the worst-case scenario, would you?"

"…I'll think about it."

Byakuya conceded that with a nod. "So," Sakura began. "Shinji's getting gun training, Rin will be looking into the van Dykes' history…what else can we do about this?"

"I'll be stepping up Shirou's training." Rin said with a pinch of her nose. "…this is so going against my duty as a magus but…it can't be helped. I've got to look out for him."

"I don't want to cause trouble…" Shirou began, only to be stopped with Rin pressing a finger against his lips.

"Not a word more." She said. "It's no trouble at all. Not really…you biting the dirt because we – _I_ – didn't do more because of such a thing as magus expectations…no. NO. I almost lost my sister because of that before, and I'm not risking losing a friend this time for that same reason. As Uncle Byakuya said: we're going to have to bend the rules."

"…thank you very much."

"What about you, Sakura?" Aoi asked. "What are you going to do?"

"What I can do, of course." Sakura said. "Starting with making those mystic codes for Shinji. Speaking of which…Shinji?"

"Hmm…what? What?" Shinji said, snapping up from where he'd been reading his book.

Sakura grinned at him. "The Black Magic Club has the green light." She said.

"WHAT?"

Sakura laughed and flashed a 'V for Victory' sign. "Good luck getting the same for the Fencing Club." She said with a grin.

Shinji mimed cracking his neck, and then cracked his knuckles. "Challenge accepted." He said.

There was silence, and then Kariya snickered and shook his head indulgently. Aoi did likewise, while Byakuya just smiled and returned to servicing his Tommy Gun. Rin and Shirou just palmed their faces, and Sakura laughed.

* * *

"Van Dyke?" Kirei echoed. "Hmm…yes, as I recall they were in the list of dossiers I provided some time ago. Let's see…"

Kirei turned away from Rin, towards a bookshelf dominating one side of the room. He rummaged through a neatly-arranged set of folders on one of the shelves, and then grunting in satisfaction, pulled out one of the folders, the name of 'Van Dyke' written on the folder's edge.

"Hmm…" Kirei hummed while browsing the files' contents, and then nodded. "According to this, the Van Dyke family originated from South Africa, during the late-18th Century. They returned to Europe about a century later, moving to the Netherlands shortly before the Second Boer War."

"What does it say about their magecraft?" Rin asked.

"Their core concept was 'duality'." Kirei answered. "The Van Dykes applied this concept to themselves, with duality being interpreted as a…dichotomy, between the savage, animalistic, and natural side of their selves as Human beings, and the civilized, rational, and artificial side of their selves, again as Human beings. Their stated goal was transcendence of both, and in so doing reach the Root."

"…is there anything about _how_ their magecraft and focus on said concept manifested themselves?" Rin asked.

"Yes." Kirei said with a nod. "Van Dyke magi had the ability to shift between a purely Human form to a bestial one. Their bestial forms varied from one magus to another, but there were some uniformities."

"Such as?"

Kirei glanced at the file before answering. "They retained a generally-humanoid appearance, for one." He said. "For another, they all boasted some form of natural weapons or protection. The more mundane ones included razor-edged forearms and sharp fangs, or muscle-launched spines that can strike with enough force to pierce up to two centimeters of face-hardened steel. Others boasted incredibly-dense carapaces, while more esoteric abilities include the ability to produce clouds of corrosive spores that can eat through…well, just about everything. Steel, rubber, glass…you name it."

"That doesn't so too good." Rin said worriedly. "Why did the Association tolerate such…"

"You think too highly of the Association, child." Kirei interrupted chidingly. "There are only two absolute limitations for the Association. The first is of course to keep the supernatural secret from the world at large. And the second is the prohibition against becoming a Dead Apostle. So long as those limitations are respected, and lip service paid to other, lesser rules and regulations, the Association could care less about how magi go about their business."

Rin fidgeted at such a harsh but accurate assessment of the Association's standards with regard to magi behavior. "Is that all?" she asked.

"No…" Kirei said, again glancing at the file. "It also states here that Van Dyke magi had the ability to retain their sense of selves when transforming into their alter egos, but while this represented their…rational, sides being shared with their bestial ones, the inverse was also true."

"How?"

"Van Dykes were…territorial." Kirei said. "Though that could be used as a description for magi in general, the Van Dyke were especially so, more akin to predatory animals like dogs or wolves or whatnot which violently react when animals or people from outside their territory enter their own. They could be savage when provoked, and had a disturbing affinity for…raw meat."

"…vampirism?"

"Not quite," Kirei said. "They didn't need to drink blood, and they certainly didn't make a point of it. But there were rumors, which were never verified according to my data. What _is_ known is that they did relish in consuming raw meat, preferably from animals caught in the hunt…whether in Human form or not."

Rin made a face. "And what else?" she asked after a moment.

Kirei checked his data again. "They exhibited pack behavior," he said. "Loyal to their family and its leaders, but very competitive, and based on strength. Leadership was fluid, with any leader needing to periodically demonstrate their capabilities and strength in some way or risk being challenged and overthrown…usually fatally, and bloodily so."

"How did they end up getting targeted by the Magus Killer?"

Kirei smiled. "They were conducting Human experiments," He said. "And apparently had been for quite some time. Perhaps as far back as when they were still in South Africa – and yes, there are disturbing implications considering attitudes towards natives that came with European colonization added to the Van Dykes' own characteristics – and had cooperated with Nazi Germany in a number of concentration and death camps. Even with the fall of the Third Reich, they continued their experiments, though they had to tone them down. What their end goal was is not known, but the results – at least the ones which the Association and the Holy Church – knew of were…disturbing."

"How disturbing?" Rin asked.

Kirei shrugged before checking his file again. "Attempts to further explore the duality of man and beast were done in many ways." He said. "This ranged from alchemical splicing of genes between Humans and animals, surgical or alchemical alterations, and breeding programs."

Rin paled. "And…and the results?" she asked.

Kirei showed Rin a picture and the fourteen-year old girl recoiled. "Good God," she gasped. "What is that thing?"

Kirei looked at the file himself. "The offspring of a…test subject, alchemically-bred using Human gene-stock spliced with bovine gene-stock," he clinically read. "And another test subject, this one produced by natural birth from a previous generation of test subjects involving Human-Dog hybrids."

Weak-kneed, Rin collapsed into a seat. "And the Association tolerated that?" she asked, aghast.

"For quite some time, yes." Kirei said. "Apparently, they were more low-key before the Second World War. That same conflict however destroyed whatever restraint they had, and while the end of the war required the return of restraint, it was not enough. Still, it was enough to keep the Association from moving against them, at least overly. Over the decades, a number of assassins and other third-party individuals and organizations were contracted. The Holy Church also conducted a number of…off-the-record, operations by supposedly-rogue personnel, all of which failed."

"Then came the Magus Killer." Rin said.

Kirei smiled. "Yes." He said. "He killed all the test subjects, simply by bombing the holding pens. When the handlers rushed to investigate, he gassed them, with white phosphorus added for good measure. In the confusion, he slipped into the experimental facilities, killed everyone inside, and then blew it up as well. And also, he fought and killed their family head at the time, using a conceptual weapon to not just destroy his crest, but also through its link with the crests of their branch families, their crests and the branch heads themselves."

"And then what?"

Kirei shrugged. "Mission accomplished." He said. "The family had been gutted, and the branch families were soon wiped out by a number of contracted freelancers and spell-casters sent by the Association. We of the Holy Church also launched our own operation."

"What happened?" Rin asked.

Kirei smiled again. "I burned their library, and killed their heir." He said.

"You?" Rin asked, wide-eyed.

"And a few others." He said with a wave of his hand. "With so many and such critical losses, starting with Kiritsugu Emiya's devastating onslaught, the Van Dykes had yet to even begin recovering. Their bounded fields were patchy and barely functioning – you as a child could have erected more effective bounded fields than they could at the time – and with so many holes we might as well have just walked through the front door."

"What did you do?"

Kirei shrugged. "Most of my party engaged their elite guard while I took a…shortcut, to their archives." He said.

"Shortcut?"

"Punching your way through walls is crude, but effective if you are short on time." Kirei said with an amused smile. "The straight path tends to be the quickest one."

Rin didn't know what to make of that. "Their heir knew what I was planning to do," Kirei continued. "And was waiting for me at the archives. He tried to fight me, and while he did score some hits, in the end he was just a large and foul-smelling splatter across the room. And then I set the place on fire."

"…impressive."

Kirei laughed. "I am honored by your praise." He said. "Perhaps I might tell you more of my past experiences should we ever have the time for it."

"Maybe someday."

"Hmm…"

"You didn't finish them off, though."

Kirei shrugged. "The Association indicated through back channels once the Van Dyke archives had been destroyed, their crests also destroyed, and their branches wiped out, the appropriate message had been sent." He said. "No further action was deemed necessary, and in the interests of the balance of power between our organizations, further action on our part was also halted. The Van Dykes had been brought to heel. Not exactly our optimal outcome, but it was a satisfactory one."

"Not for me." Rin said with narrowed eyes. "We wouldn't be in this mess if they'd just been wiped out."

"Perhaps," Kirei said with a shrug. "But the world does not revolve around you, nor your sister's or your friend's families. And no one could have foreseen they'd have recovered sufficiently to actually attempt to claim vengeance on such a scale as to target an Association Second Owner simply by association with the Emiya boy."

"Either that," Rin said darkly. "Or they think that since we're in a backwater as far as the Association is concerned, so long as they keep things low-key, they can afford to push things."

"That is also possible."

Rin snorted. "I'll make them regret that." She snapped.

"Perhaps you might," Kirei said with a note of warning. "Or they might make you regret trying. Regardless, I suggest you focus your studies and preparations on combat applications for the foreseeable future. From what you've told me your sister and her family already plan to do so, and it would be wise and prudent for you to do likewise, and to direct your Emiya friend along a similar path."

"I was already planning to do so."

"Good."

"Do you know what the Three Wise Men the Van Dyke magus Sakura fought was referring to?"

"No, I do not." Kirei said while stroking his chin. "I can guess though. Most likely it refers to an advisory council of sorts within their family, to provide counsel and support to their family head. I cannot confirm that, however. Their organization was torn to pieces by the time we launched our attack, and it is quite possible they completely reorganized themselves in the aftermath. And when all is said and done, it's quite academic, isn't it? All that needs be remembered is that they are an enemy, and you must kill them, before they kill you."

"I know."

Kirei nodded, and then he smiled.

* * *

A/N

Time to get this fic more serious (but not too serious), by adding a touch of the darkness the moonlit world is so wrapped in. Add in some of the nastier examples of magi, plus posthumous badass moments for Kiritsugu 'I got soft' Emiya and post-facto badass moments for Kirei ' _Yorokobe_ ' Kotomine, and…we're in business.

But as I said, not too serious. Fun fact about Shirou is that he's actually a closet gun nut (hence his trigger being a hammer striking a firing pin) and that he – secretly from Taiga – goes on hunting trips every once in a while with Raiga Fujimura. Among other shady – but not too shady – pastimes, courtesy of his _yakuza_ friends. And so we get him – and Shinji (who is canonically mentioned as would have joined a fencing club instead of the _kyuudo_ team if there had been a fencing club) – salivating at Byakuya's small (but growing) gun collection.

See you next time.


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Janus

Chapter 13

"Richard has failed."

The words echoed in the dark, the only light in the space illuminating a pair of abstract paintings and an antique radio standing on marble pedestals. "Not only that," the voice continued. "He has been killed, and by a child no less. One of us…one of the Three Wise Men…killed…inconceivable…!"

"Lady Regina will not be pleased." A second voice remarked. "Though of greater import here is what our response must be."

"At the very least it is clear that we can no longer simply content ourselves with merely sending a message to the Second Owner's family." The first voice answered. "The death of one of the Three Wise Men cannot go unavenged, otherwise we risk appearing weak to our enemies, both actual and potential. We are at a…precarious, position at this current time, after all."

"In short," the second voice said. "We must send a message to all who are watching, and demonstrate our strength."

"Precisely."

"Is that not what we have been doing all this time?"

"Well, yes," the first voice admitted. "But we have so far limited ourselves to…subtle, means. Circumstances now demand we take more overt actions."

"This is true." The second voice agreed. "The Matou Clan will have to be destroyed of course, root, branch, and stem. The same goes for the Emiya…what of Tohsaka, though?"

"Hmm…difficult…" the first voice said. "They are still the Second Owners…killing them may cause too much trouble…perhaps the destruction of their ancestral home – while the Second Owner is out – and their household would be sufficient."

"They might attempt to enact retaliation." The second voice warned.

"Then let them." The first voice said dismissively. "We will meet such challenge without fail, and crush it. In so doing we demonstrate our superiority, and indeed, may give us the justification we need to kill the Second Owner without facing censure or worse from the Mages Association."

"This is true." The second voice conceded. "We are agreed then, on the necessary response to Richard's death."

"We are." The first voice agreed. "One more thing, however: we must hold a memorial service. Richard might have failed, and he was killed to boot, but he was still one of the Three Wise Men. He was still one of us. A memorial service must be held."

"True…" the second voice agreed. "What did you have in mind?"

"As I recall, Richard had a fondness in his youth for the country around Lake…"

"There will be no memorial for that weakling fool."

A third voice cut in, female, light and strong. Then there were footsteps in the dark, growing closer, before coming to a halt and a pale but toned hand and arm emerged and placed itself atop the antique radio. Prana surged and the radio and its pedestal were torn apart in a blaze of blue energy.

"Lady Regina," the remaining Wise Men chorused in deference.

"Richard not only failed, but was killed by a child no less." Regina van Dyke answered, standing in the dark. "In so doing, he proved himself weak, and of no further use to our family. Indeed, one could say we should thank the Matou heiress for her actions, revealing as it did the rot present in our ranks, and cutting it out for us. She has also proven her strength, her resolve, and her worth."

"But, Lady Regina," the first voice began. "Even if Richard was of no further use to the family, he was still one of us, the Three Wise Men. Does it not belittle the family and damage our dignity to allow his death by a small, no-name clan from a backwater to pass unpunished?"

"Three Wise Men?" Regina answered mockingly. "Don't you mean _Two_ Wise Men?"

There was silence, and then Regina chuckled. "If he could not even kill a child not even fifteen years of age," she continued. "Then he deserved to die, being unworthy of the position of one of the Van Dyke family's Wise Men, much less to hold the name of Van Dyke in the first place. And more importantly, Adelson, were you listening to what I said? Richard was rot in our ranks, and would only have served to ruin us in the long-term. Would it not belittle us and damage our dignity further by honoring his empty and meaningless legacy? On the contrary, should we not admit him for what he truly was, and truly demonstrate our strength by showing our willingness and ability to cut out rot when and where it is needed?"

"However…"

"Or perhaps," Regina interrupted, a dangerous note entering her voice, that of an apex predator sensing a challenge to its dominion, and filling the dark with menace. "Are you questioning my judgment? Challenging my authority?"

"…I am your servant." Adelson van Dyke answered after a moment, his voice filled with fear and deference.

"We shall see." Regina said, her pale hand and arm languidly sliding out of the dark and stroking one side of the painting representing Adelson van Dyke. Cracks spread across the frame, along with burns on the adjacent canvas. "Come to think of it, you haven't succeeded in your goal of killing the Magus Killer's biological daughter either, have you?"

There was silence, and then laughter in the dark. "Do not fear." Regina said. "I was merely making an observation. That little girl is after all, protected behind Einzbern's bounded fields, of a family over a thousand years old. I'd be very surprised if their defenses were easy to breach, even by us. That you managed to avoid drawing retribution from the Old Magus King is a respectable achievement…for now."

"I…thank you, my lady."

There was a dismissive note in the dark. "However," she said. "Perhaps you've gotten too…fixated, on your target, that you're beginning to lose perspective as a result. The Magus Killer's child will remain marked for death, of course, but a short reprieve would serve us better here and now. It would allow us to catch our breath, to regain perspective, and for Einzbern to relax their guard ever so little. Enough to grant us a chink in their defenses hopefully, when we resume."

"By that I assume we will continue our actions against the Emiya boy?" the second voice asked. "And Tohsaka and Matou, as well."

"You assume correctly, my dear Jean." Regina said. "Yes, I wish for the Emiya boy to be dead and buried before the end of the year. Tohsaka will continue to help him, there is no doubt about that, but I do agree we should avoid killing her if only to avoid complications with those silly old men from London."

"And Matou?"

"Matou – or their heiress, rather – has proven their strength." Regina said. "I will deal with them personally."

There were sounds of surprise and shock in the dark. "You'll be going yourself, my lady?" Adelson asked.

"That's what I just said, you silly old man." Regina snapped. "Are you perhaps getting senile? If so, I wonder if _Two_ Wise Men should simply become _the_ Wise Man."

Again, there was silence, and fear, in the dark. "Surely you jest, my lady." Adelson worriedly said.

"…we shall see." Regina said after a moment. "Jean, you will remain here in Europe and maintain our affairs as they currently stand. Adelson, you will accompany me to Japan, and prove your worth once more. Kill the Emiya boy. Mark the Tohsaka girl with a lasting reminder of the consequences of challenging us. But leave the Matou to me."

"…it will be done, my lady." Jean and Adelson chorused after a moment.

"We shall see."

* * *

Shinji took one of the plastic cylinders Sakura had purchased in bulk, and sterilized by boiling, and held it up for closer inspection. A label had been stuck to one side, on which was written 'RED POTION' in Roman letters. He then glanced to where Sakura was tossing fresh strawberries into a food processor, added iced water and glucose, before replacing the lid on top.

A hand helped hold the lid in place as the food processor hummed and whined. "Seriously?" Shinji asked skeptically.

"Hey," Sakura said with a shrug. "No one ever said the Black Magic Club had to be the real deal. And everyone involved knows it. It's all a sham, flashy tricks and make-believe, something to waste idle time with fun and games."

"…that's bullshit, and you know it."

Sakura laughed, and nodded. "Okay, you got me there." She said. "But you know what they say about the best lies having a grain of truth at their heart, and it is a fact that a lot of the…arcane, history, folklore, superstition, and some of the other stuff we talk about and play with all the time are actually common knowledge."

"…okay…what about that Formalcraft ritual during the Summer Solstice? How do you explain that?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm the only one there who can make magic happen anyway." She said. "So there should be no chances that anything will happen from those rituals we do every so often."

"Every so often?" Shinji echoed incredulously. "You mean you're planning to do it again?"

"Well yes," Sakura said. "There's the Autumn Equinox in September, and the Winter Solstice in December. What better time to conduct Formalcraft rituals aimed at making us more…attuned, to the world around us, than those times of the year? The geographic and astrological perturbations are just…well, perfect. Besides, what's the harm? I'm the only one who can do magic after all…"

"That's bullshit and you know it." Shinji interrupted. "They're not Grand Rituals, and it only takes one to conduct a Lesser Ritual. Even if the other participants can't do magic themselves, they only really need to believe in what they're doing, and the magic will affect them. They don't need to see it, or know it, but it will."

"…I know."

"So why?"

Sakura turned off the food processor, and opening it stuck a finger inside the mass inside. She nodded in satisfaction, and taking a funnel poured a set amount inside each plastic cylinder marked as carrying red potion. "It's my way of thanking them for playing along with my selfishness." She said.

"Huh?"

"There's no real need for the Black Magic Club to exist." Sakura said, continuing to fill the cylinders while speaking. "It's just me being selfish, wanting to have some fun in my free time, and add…normality, to life as a magus."

Shinji didn't know what to say to that. "They all think it's just make-believe," Sakura said with a faint note of regret. "And playing along are blinded by the hocus-pocus and superstition that I use to mask the real deal beneath it all. So let me thank them with this, by adding ever so little touches of real magic, tiny sparks of miracles to make the fantasy just so…believable, while it lasts."

"While it lasts?" Shinji echoed, and then he sighed. "Yeah…I guess. You're the one behind the Black Magic Club, not just its founding, but also the one keeping it going. If you ever leave the academy, and certainly after you finish schooling, what are the chances it'll stick around?"

"Or," Sakura said, as she sealed the cylinders. "When the members simply grow up, and stop believing in miracles and fantasies, instead just focusing on dull and mundane reality."

"…that's life." Shinji said.

"That it is." Sakura agreed. "All things must end. Like I've said before, everything dies sooner or later, and there are no exceptions. Not even a childish magus' selfishness. But before that happens, let's all have as much fun as we can, and let me thank them for it as best I can."

Shinji hummed in sympathy and said nothing, just watching as Sakura finished sealing the cylinders, and then reinforced their contents. " _Between all that sugar and Sakura's reinforcement,_ " he thought. " _That's going to have quite the kick._ "

"Now that that's over and done with," Sakura said while taking the tray carrying the red potions to the refrigerator and then put them inside. "Up next, orange potions."

Shinji's lips twitched into a smile. "Alright," he said with a sigh, walking over to the sink to wash his hands. "Let me lend you a hand."

"Please and thank you."

* * *

Cu Chulainn, Shirou's pet mongrel, cheerfully panted as he sat on his haunches next to his master. As for Shirou, he sat at his desk in his workshop, where he was busy putting mystic codes together. The boy grunted as he tightened the metal ring holding an arrowhead to the shaft, and then nodded in satisfaction before placing the completed arrow into a container three-quarters of the way full of other, similar arrows.

Turning to his dog, Shirou grinned and patted his pet on the head, the dog whining happily at his touch. "Interested?" he asked.

Cu Chulainn barked in affirmative, and Shirou grinned wider before taking one of his arrows in hand. "Well," he said. "It's nothing special, really. Just…something, or a few of them in case those guys who went after me last year and Sakura a few months ago come back. And if you ask Rin, it's not really something a magus should be proud of."

Shirou paused and laughed at that. "Though," he said with a sad smile at the arrows he'd made, and at the containers of more such arrows stacked on a nearby shelf. "I'd say it's not something any good person should be proud of, making weapons to kill."

Shirou paused and sighed. "Us being magi though," he said with a sad smile at his dog, who tilted his head at his master's air. "It's kill or be killed, so it can't be helped."

Shirou sat back, spinning the arrow in his hand slowly through the air. Cu Chulainn followed with his head, and barked a few times. Shirou held up the arrow. "You want to know what this is made of?" he asked. "How it works?"

Cu Chulainn barked an affirmative, and then whined happily as Shirou rubbed his head with a laugh. "Well, I guess I can tell you." He said with a grin. "I'm sure Rin won't tell me off for talking about secrets to a dog."

Shirou shifted sideways in his seat, and leaned over with his elbows resting on his thighs. "First," he began. "Some background: my Origin is 'Sword', and my elemental affinity is also 'Sword'. This makes it really difficult for me to learn or rather _use_ even the most basic magecraft, and with my low quality circuits even brute forcing mysteries doesn't really work. But! There's a way to get around that. That is, I simply have to apply a mystery in the context of a sword."

Cu Chulainn panted happily as Shirou explained. "See this arrow?" he said, and holding it up. "The shaft is carbon fiber, and the same goes for the fletching at the end, made from ordinary charcoal and changed using alteration. Normally I'd fail about…well, I never really count when trying, though Rin says I'd fail ninety-nine exercises out of a hundred…if I did it as magi normally would. But when I apply 'Sword' to the exercise, altering the charcoal from, well, _charcoal_ , into a 'sword that looks like an arrow's shaft and fletching', the opposite is what happens."

Shirou then paused, and spun the arrow until it was held point-down, and pointed at the arrowhead. "See the arrowhead?" he continued. "It looks like a jewel, because it _is_ a jewel. Jewels are like magic crests you see, because while they're under the Earth, they're under the influence of nature spirits. And that can last for a really long time, about millions of years at the least, and in that time they get all…special, or as Rin called, conceptually-empowered by those spirits they're under. That makes them very useful when it comes to magecraft.

Cu Chulainn tilted his head as Shirou scratched his own. "Normally," the boy continued. "When you store prana or spells or whatever else you want to store inside a jewel, they get influenced by the jewel, and unless you have an affinity for the jewel, usually an elemental one, you can't get them out or use them again. But! Again, there's a way around that. I just pour my prana into the jewel, all the while conceptualizing it as 'making a sword that looks like a jewel'. Rin says it's very crude and clumsy and wouldn't really work in higher-level applications but for what we need right now…it works."

Shirou paused and twirled the arrow in his hand again. "You know," he asked Cu Chulainn. "We tried to see how powerful this thing was. Well, one of them, a few months ago, a month or so after Sakura was attacked. We went to the countryside, and from the top of a hill, I fired off an arrow at a target a good way off. And it blew a crater several feet deep, and tore apart trees all around…talk about nasty."

Shirou sighed and turned away, returning the arrow to its container before resting his head against an elbow. "I want to be a Hero of Justice," he said after a moment. "Someone who helps people…saves people…just like dad saved me back then. I guess being able to do this would help in making that dream reality, but it's…strange, isn't it? I want to be a hero…but to do that, I need something to fight with, something to kill with…very strange…"

Shirou trailed off, and after a few moments, turned to look at his dog. Cu Chulainn was asleep on the floor, resting his head against his forelegs. At the sight, Shirou sighed, and slouched in his seat while smiling in a self-deprecating way.

"I guess I'm just not good conversation." He said with a small laugh.

* * *

Working carefully so as to avoid agitating the liquid reagent any more than was absolutely necessary, Rin pulled out a heavy duty, rubber glove from a glass beaker. The glove had been turned inside-out to expose its interior, and had been suspended by lead clips hanging from an iron stand with silken cords to minimize contamination as much as possible.

The magus let the glove drip onto a separate receptacle, and then dry on its own in the cold, dry air of her workshop. Once it was dry, Rin unclipped the glove, and using tweezers peeled off a thin film of mulberry paper – very thin, only about 0.1 millimeters thick, but _very_ resistant to alchemical reagents even then – which she'd used to shape the glove's interior surface into a desired pattern.

Disposing of the film, Rin then put on a pair of magnifying goggles, and inspected the glove closely to see if the patterns etched into the rubber were as they should be. It would take about twenty minutes to finish, but while there were a few deviations, they were within acceptable parameters.

" _Excellent,_ " Rin thought to herself, sitting back with a smile and removing her goggles. Peeling off her safety gloves, she got up and walked over to her desk, and began jotting down some notes for this project's record. " _With this I can proceed to the third phase…hmm…probably best to let the rubber settle overnight before moving on. I hope I'm not wasting time, though._ "

Rin grimaced at the thought of the shadow of the Van Dykes and who knows other enemies of Kiritsugu Emiya hanging overhead, but she mentally shouldered it aside. " _Haste makes waste._ " She reminded herself. " _They also invite mistakes, and when it comes to magecraft, mistakes are more likely to be fatal. I won't be able to help Shirou – and Sakura – if I end up killing myself because I rushed things. Especially with something as… **powerful** , as this._"

The magus nodded in agreement with herself, and then turned towards her workshop door as a series of knocks sounded. "Rin," Aoi said through the door. "Hurry up in there. Your sister and her father will be here in a few minutes."

"Yeah, I'm just cleaning up and putting my thoughts on paper." Rin responded.

"Alright, but don't take too long." Aoi said.

"I won't." Rin said, and through the door there were the near-inaudible sounds of Aoi walking off.

Rin quickly finished her notes, and proofread once to make sure nothing was out of place or incorrect. Closing the journal, she then placed it on a shelf, and then walked over back to the work table, where she took the glove she'd been working on earlier and replaced the lead clips she'd used to hold it up. This time she wouldn't suspend it in liquid reagent, just leave it hanging in the air overnight to settle. Come tomorrow though, it would be time to work on the exterior.

Taking one last look around her workshop, Rin walked over to the door and made to leave, stepping out just as Aoi gave an annoyed shout in the distance, calling Rin and telling her that Sakura and her father had arrived. "I know, I'm on the way!" Rin shouted back, closing the door and resetting the bounded fields before hurrying off to join her mother.

* * *

"Hey big sis." Sakura greeted Rin.

"Hey, Sakura." Rin returned the greeting.

"So…can I see the twins?" Sakura asked, turning to her mother.

"I don't see why not." Aoi said with a shrug, though her face quickly turned stern. "If they're sleeping though, it should go without saying."

"Yes I know." Sakura said, turning to look at Rin while walking towards the staircase. "Coming?"

"Eh…why not?"

Quickly matching Sakura's pace, the elder Tohsaka-Matou sisters made their way to the staircase, and then up to the upper floors. As they ascended the staircase, Rin shot a look behind her over a shoulder, and spotted her and Sakura's parents chatting quietly with each other. As she watched discreetly, she saw them hold hands, and then smiling at each other, bumped their foreheads together.

Smiling at the sight, Rin turned back ahead of her. "So," Sakura began. "How are things?"

"What do you mean "how are things"?" Rin asked.

"You know," Sakura said with a shrug. "How are things? Or should I say…how are you?"

Rin stared at Sakura for a moment, and then shrugged and smiled. "I'm doing fine." She said. "Work on my most recent project is going well too, though more slowly than I'd hoped. Here's that things stay quiet until I can finish _and_ test it."

"…what exactly are you up to, big sis?"

Rin tutted and winked at Sakura, smiling smugly while wagging a finger in the air. "That's a secret." She said with a singsong voice.

"Hey," Sakura said with a faux expression of offended dignity. "Is it a secret from me?"

"Hmm…let's just say I want to keep it a surprise for as long as I can. And I'm sure you'll appreciate it more that way when you see it. Just so you know, even Shirou doesn't know about what I'm working on."

"Sounds pretty impressive," Sakura remarked, before smirking at her sister. "I'm looking forward to seeing what and how it works."

"Good."

The sisters shared a smug smile between them at that, and then Rin blinked in realization. "Speaking of which," she began. "You've got Ryuudo up in arms, by the way."

"Again?" Sakura said in an exasperated tone. "What is it this time?"

"You're selling potions, and since it's all clearly make-believe, he's ranting and raving about you and the Black Magic Club scamming – and I quote – honest and upstanding students out of their money using superstition and flashy tricks."

"That coming from a guy who lives in a temple, and which receives donations as a show of…religious, devotion on the part of their congregation?" Sakura scoffed. "What a hypocrite."

"They don't know what we know, Sakura." Rin said. "Cut them some slack."

"The gods are dead and gone, and will never return." Sakura said. "But point…and?"

"And…that's just the latest tirade on his part." Rin said with a sigh, and pinching her nose. "He's really got it out for you and your club. It wasn't long ago that he was ranting and raving about your fortune telling services…"

"…which Ryuudo Temple also provides…" Sakura ground out.

"And he had some words with the Literature and World History Clubs too," Rin continued. "After they cooperated with the Black Magic Club in exploring folklore and arcane beliefs from across the world."

"Yeah, you told me about that." Sakura said, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "And as I recall, the advisors for our three clubs gave him a dressing down for it. Something about…being unappreciative, of interclub cooperation over a creative and educational subject."

Rin snickered. "Yeah, that happened." She admitted.

"So what happened this time?"

"He got laughed at."

"What?"

Rin smirked. "You heard me." She said, and Sakura burst out laughing. She laughed so hard, that she had to stop walking, and had to lean against the wall for support, Rin also laughed, shaking her head in mixed pity and amusement. "Yeah, most of the council, the class reps, and the council advisor laughed and pointed out that everyone knew that what your club was doing is clearly make-believe – and which he even said himself – so they weren't really being scammed, as they would know that the 'potions' they're buying are just sweetened fruit juices."

"Well…I um…reinforced them…so…"

"You what?" Rin asked.

Sakura poked her fingers together. "I…reinforced them." She admitted. Rin stared, and Sakura blushed while looking away.

Rin shook her head, and then smirked at Sakura. "They must pack quite the punch then." She said.

"They do." Sakura said with a laugh. "Shinji had one before the 'grand opening' of the Fencing Club."

"Oh so that's why he was so energetic and cheerful on that day! I should have known it!"

"So long as they don't drink too much, they should be fine." Sakura said. "Too much, and well…"

"You do tell your customers that, right?" Rin asked.

"I do." Sakura said with a nod. "I tell them that an ingredient – with a wink so they tend to assume its sugar – is really good at giving energy to the body, so they shouldn't drink too much at any one time."

"I suppose that's responsible enough. I mean it's not like you're planning to make a living out of this, are you?"

"Of course not."

Rin nodded, and Sakura and her resumed walking to the twins' room. "So what happened after that?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm? Oh right…Ryuudo got real sullen, and after the meeting was over stormed away in a bad mood, muttering – as usual – that no one appreciates him."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "He needs a girlfriend." She said. "He _really_ needs to lighten up, and to learn to enjoy life while he can. Because once we all grow up…"

Rin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's true." She said before smiling conspiratorially at her sister. "But I doubt he's going to get one soon. And not because he's too busy with council work either. You see…I think Ryuudo's gay."

"WHAT?"

Rin snickered. "Yeah, I know," she said. "Very unbelievable, but you see…"

The girl trailed off as they arrived at the twins' room, and opening the door let Sakura in before following herself. "Haru!" Sakura gushed, rushing in and quickly getting down to give her little sisters a hug, the twins giggling at her. "Aki! I'm here!"

"Sa-ne! Sa-ne! Sa-ne!" they babbled, and then noticing Rin, babbled some more. "Rin-ne! Rin-ne!"

Smiling wider but softer, Rin got down and joined Sakura in doting over their little sisters.

* * *

A/N

Remember that little puppy Shirou saved a few chapters ago? Yeah, he's full grown now. And Shirou named him after one of the most famous 'dogs' in legend (though I doubt said legend would be amused/impressed should he find out).

Somewhere in the afterlife, I'm sure Tokiomi is having an aneurysm at Kariya and Aoi being lovey-dovey in _his_ house, even more so as Rin doesn't care anymore. Here's to that (toasts and drinks champagne).

It's just so fun to bully Issei. The kid _really_ needs to learn to relax and take things easy, and to stop being so…plain, and conventional.

'Sa-ne' is a contraction of 'Sakura-nee', as since Aki and Haru aren't even two, they can't quite say the latter (yet). Ditto for 'Rin-ne', which is short for 'Rin-nee'.


End file.
